


Détente

by GoblinCity



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens (2015), Star Wars Episode VIII: The Last Jedi (2017), Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Anal Fingering, Anal Sex, Fellatio, I feel like Kylux is its own warning, Inappropriate Use of the Force, Kylo Ren is Competent, M/M, Masturbation, No Beta We Die as Men, No STDs in Space, Other tags to be added as weird shit happens, Political Intrigue, Unsafe Sex
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-03-11
Updated: 2018-07-22
Packaged: 2019-03-29 18:40:14
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 10
Words: 25,407
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13932957
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GoblinCity/pseuds/GoblinCity
Summary: After the Battle of Crait, Armitage Hux is confident that Kylo Ren will be the architect of his own demise. Kylo surprises him.





	1. The Enemy of my Enemy Is Not My Friend

Approximately one and a half cycles after the battle of Crait, General Hux powered down the display built into the flat, black durasteel top of his desk. He powered down his holocomm. He docked his datapad into the charging cradle. He exhaled as his eyes closed, leaned back in his chair, hands still and fingers splayed on either of the padded arm rests. Every ache and pain in his body began to protest as the stims reached the end of their efficacy. 

_I will get up_ , he thought to himself, _I will rise from this chair and walk to my quarters_. Once inside, he could finally shower, finally sleep. Whatever aches persisted after a cycle of rest would be dealt with then and no sooner. 

Every small and metaphorical fire, from the wreckage of the Supremacy, to the cataloguing of troop and equipment loss, to the redistribution of personnel and supplies was under control. From small fires to a pit of naught but smoldering embers about to be doused. _No thanks_ , Hux thought unkindly, _to the Supreme Leader_. 

On returning to the Finalizer, Ren disembarked the shuttle, stomped off in a whirl of black fabric and a trail of salt. He barked some nonsense about not disturbing him and that was the end of his involvement with the organization he now claimed leadership over. No one had been surprised and if anything, a sense of relief had settled over everyone, from troopers to high command, at the lack of Ren's presence. 

Hux exhaled, straightened in his seat, then rose, ignoring the twinge from his hip, the groaning protest of the muscles in his back, the growing ache in his ribs. His face pinched into a sneer at the failings of his body, but he carried on. 

The door slid open with a soft hydraulic hiss and Hux stepped out into the corridor. He strode as swiftly, as purposefully as the tightness of injured muscle in his body would allow, pausing only to dismiss the salutes of lower ranking officers with his own as they stopped for him in the corridor. It loosened something in his chest, these small acts of ordered respect, eased the sting of humiliation first from Snoke and then from Ren. 

Snoke ruled from a place of controlled fear, a specter in the form of a holo projection, able to reach out from across stars and planets with swift and immediate acts of violence. He was smoke and mystery, no origin, no colleagues. Peerless and mostly, blessedly absent from the day to day drudgery of running a military operation. Ren, on the other hand, was a publicly known mess. A menace. A child. His emotional outbursts were common knowledge, his lack of care for chain of command, for First Order lives, set the teeth on edge of every officer and trooper who earned their position with blood, sweat, and backstabbing. 

_His problem is_ , Hux thought as the hydraulic door to his room hissed open and he stepped inside, _Ren has all of their fear and none of their respect_.

And that was not Hux's problem. Let him try to rule through fear alone and see how resentment and unrest grew, how creative those who felt crushed under that kind of bootheel could be with finding a resolution to their problems. Hux needn't even lift a finger until the throne was once again open. He only needed to hold things together, to maintain dignity in the face of Ren's humiliation of him, and continue to bolster flagging morale. There would be no need to fight for the throne this time, it would be lain at his feet. 

The lights rose to forty percent as Hux strode through the neat living area, straight into his bedroom. He shed his greatcoat, folded it in half over the shoulders of his durasteel coat valet and slotted the heel of his right boot into the attached bootjack. Hux lifted and pulled until his foot slid neatly out of the boot. He bent and gentled it from the curve of the jack, setting it to the right of the valet, then slotted in his left foot and repeated the process. 

That such a small effort tired him, awoke more aches in muscle and bone, was disheartening. Only years of habit had him flicking open buttons and clasps on his wide belt, his tunic, his jodhpurs, shedding his uniform piece by piece, peeling away his armor and tossing it all unceremoniously down the laundry chute. He stood in briefs, a tank and socks and did not look at his reflection in the mirror. 

Hux stretched carefully out over the taut upper cover of his bed, buried his face in the pillow and said, "Lights- off." From behind tightly closed eyes and the regulation pillow, he did not see the room plunge into darkness. 

A full cycle later, the lights rose by single digits, mimicking the sunrise on Arkanis, an effort at stimulating the body's natural waking cycle before the harsh alarm of Hux's chrono brought him abruptly out of sleep. It was a small luxury that rank afforded and Hux never squandered those privileges he had earned.

He woke with lights at twenty percent, five full minutes before his chrono was set to alarm. Hux turned off the alarm and rose, feel the aches that sank in deeper to his body during sleep, and those other, previous aches that sleep had chased away. 

"Lights, forty percent," He said crisply and rose, striding to the refresher and knowing that his tea would have brewed and steeped by the time he was finished with his morning ablutions. 

In the refresher mirror, under the unforgiving glow of clean white lights, hand shaped bruises circled Hux's neck like a piece of jewelry, the outline of four fingers and thumb clear in dark purple on each side of his throat. He considered his reflection, the fingers of one hand wandering up to prod at the yellowing edges of the bruising. 

An application or two of bacta would have the blood in the bruises breaking down, purple to red, to a sickly greenish yellow, then gone within an hour or two. But was it truly to his advantage. Hux narrowed eyes at his reflection and placed his hands on either side of the sink, leaned in towards the mirror and watched his mouth twist down into a frown while considering. 

Wearing the bruises for the natural duration of the healing process would be a message of propaganda in favor of Hux and against Ren. Those bruises were a visual reminder that diligence and competence was punished, not rewarded. That Ren was violent and unpredictable, a slave to his own moods and whims would work in contrast to Hux's image of the Order's poster child, someone who worked in the best interest of their cause, rather than for his own personal grudges.

Or it could work against him. A sign of Ren's power over Hux, a physical representation of the collar Ren now held over the Order itself. A lasting reminder of Hux's humiliation. The frown on his reflection pulled deeper. Hux drummed his fingers against the sterile durasteel counter top before he straightened. 

The rumor of his bruises would be enough. And, once he made his way down to medical, the rumors of his other injuries would begin to circulate. He wouldn't need to suffer the aches and petty physical aggravations, yet still reap all the rewards of them. He would appear all the stronger and more dedicated to the Order for his continued service. 

And in contrast, Ren would appear all the more unstable. Unreasonable. Chaotic, in contrast to the order Hux represented. 

A feral, _Republic-bred_ beast steering their helm. 

His smile in the mirror was a nasty thing at the thought of how quickly the revelation of _Ben Solo's_ origins would spread through the ranks. 

The tension in his shoulders relaxed and Hux turned to set the temperature settings for his shower. This morning called for hot water rather than the standard sonic. A celebration of sorts.

He shed his tank, his socks, and his briefs, stepped under the steaming spray and let the heat work its way into sore muscles. Ren would feel the heel of Hux's boot at his throat, perhaps if he were feeling generous, he might let the beast live out his natural days on a very short leash, let off only at Hux's whim. 

Breath shuddered and the visceral want that image conjured curled through his body, heat in his blood, racing to his groin. It was where Ren belonged, the natural order of things, on his knees before Hux, head bowed, awaiting command. Hux grit his teeth and held no pretense of what he did as he uncapped his shower gel and squeezed a generous amount into the palm of his hand. 

He set the gel back in the recessed nook of the shower, then brought his forearm up to rest against the cool wall of the shower cubicle. Hux leaned forward, forehead against his forearm, eyes tightly closed as his mind spun the image of Ren in collar and binders, something Force suppressing. Hux's fingers wrapped around his shaft, felt his pulse in hand and cock as the flesh hardened fully under his grip. 

The beast would bare his teeth at Hux, snarl and snap, but Hux would show Ren his place, generously allow that small piece of chaos in the grand scheme of his order. His jaw unclenched, he began to pant as he stroked himself hard and fast, fingers tightened nearly to the point of pain, but that only heightened his pleasure.

Ren would learn, under Hux's personal guidance, to accept the collar and what it meant, the yoke of the Order and his true place in it. He would learn to be grateful to Hux for making a place for him. Hux's hips surged into his own grip, fucking forward into the clutch of his hand as his hand fucked back down the length of his shaft.

Though never tame, Ren would be docile enough for Hux, eventually allowed out, perhaps to stand in the shadow of Hux's throne if he were particularly well behaved. Hux's jaw tightened again, teeth grinding, face twisting as the mental imaging slipped to something else. Ren in nothing but that collar, hands bound behind his back. Hux before him, pants undone only enough to allow his cock out as he stroked himself, but not like he was doing now, colder, more dispassionate. 

His breathing sped, and he couldn't help the short grunts as he worked himself harder. Ren would look up at him with those dark eyes, plush lips parted slightly and Hux would bring himself off, come spattering across those cheeks, across Ren's scar and his lips. Marking his territory. Hux's upper lip curled as he stroked himself harder, feeling his balls tighten, his release close

And stars, Ren would thank him for it, thank him for making a place for Ren, for giving Ren a purpose and use to the Order and to Hux, thank him for taking up the leash and being his master-

His orgasm was a magnetic storm, a wild thing that punched out of his gut, spreading through his blood to muscle and bone. He came over his own hand and against the wall of the shower cubicle. The drove to the marrow of his bones and weakened them, weakened his muscles, drove out his anger and humiliation and left him wrung out and empty. Left him panting with his face so close to the wall of his shower his hot breath rebounded against his nose and mouth, back into his lungs.

The tea had just finished steeping as Hux stepped out into his living area, fully dressed and freshly groomed, thoughts from earlier locked away under the protection of the armor his uniform gave him. 

Hux crossed into the kitchen and took his cup from under the drip of the caf unit he'd converted to brew his taurine tea. The first sip was unpleasantly bitter, it always was, but the taste was acquired, and the bite of the leaves faded to something slightly more tolerable on the second sip. He turned to set the cup down on his small table and paused mid action, brows drawing together, mouth turning down. He stepped back and set the tea on the counter instead. A box lay on the table, and more disturbing than Hux not having noticed it was the issue of someone having placed it there, either while Hux was away or while he was sleeping. His paranoia did not allow droids in his personal quarters while he was not there to supervise and there was only one person aboard the Finalizer that had access to his private rooms.

It piqued Hux's curiosity enough to remove his gloves, plucking at the fingers of one hand before sliding the thin synthleather off the right, then the left. He lay the gloves next to his cup of cooling tea and turned his attention to the package. The box was thick under his fingertips, sturdy, like the packaging of a very expensive garment. His touch left smudged fingerprints on the matte surface of the lid as he slid it off and set it carefully aside. 

His brow furrowed deeper. A uniform tunic lay folded carefully inside, light catching on the gold stars, two pinned to each side of the collar. Hux slipped his fingers over the shoulders and raised it up, letting the garment unfold before him. The cut was different from his own, a diagonal stripe of matte gold synth leather ran from one shoulder to the opposite hip and instead of only four white bands on the left sleeve, this tunic had a fifth band of gold. 

Heart quickening, he refolded the garment, carefully laying it inside the box's lid. His lips parted on audible breaths as he drew out the second item in the box, a black gaberwool military cape, long sleeves buttoned with gold stars, the same four white stripes and fifth gold on the left sleeve denoting his rank. The interior of the garment and the underside of the collar were lined in a black shimmersilk, gold thread weaving through to form star systems and constellations. His face slackened, lips parting slightly. 

Hux set the cape aside, attention on the box's final content- a sheet of flimsi with looping calligraphy- 

_Grand Marshal Armitage Hux,_

_Audience Chamber 2100._

_Your move._

_-KR_


	2. One may know how to conquer without being able to do it.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> General Hux regains a semblance of control. Then Kylo surprises him. Again.

Once, at the tender age of thirteen, an older boy ambushed him in the underclassman communal showers at the academy. Unfortunately for said older boy Hux kept a telescoping baton in his hygiene kit, tucked beside his toothbrush in the small slot between the larger compartments for shampoo and soap. While the upperclassman described in graphic and vivid detail the things he intended to perpetrate upon Hux, about how Hux was alone and vulnerable, Hux's pale fingers wrapped around the hilt of the baton.

A sharp movement of his wrist and the baton telescoped out to full length. With one downward swipe, Hux shattered both the fragile kneecaps of the upperclassman. 

At the moment, Hux imagined this was how the boy had felt, knees taken right and unexpectedly out from under him.

Hux swallowed past a too dry throat and untucked one of the chairs from the table to sit down hard and try to gather his thoughts. Kylo preempted Hux's plan. Rather than whisper about Ren's hair-trigger temper and Hux's undeserved injuries, there would be congratulations and envy for Hux's promotion. Acknowledgement towards Ren's decision in granting Hux the honors and title that Snoke had denied him. Ren would surpass Snoke easily in the esteem of the crew with tentative hope that Ren's leadership would be _better_ than the now deceased Snoke. 

His mouth pinched together, nose wrinkling. Ren's obviously accidental cleverness almost took the joy out of finally attaining the long past due rank. Almost.

Hux rose and doffed both belt and tunic, laying the belt on the seat of his recently vacated chair and the tunic folded in half over the back of it. He settled the cape back into the box and picked up his new tunic, opening the stiff, fresh clasps and donning the shimmersilk lined garment. An over the top luxury, to be sure, something very Republic in its opulence, and yet understated enough for an officer of the First Order. His hatred for Ren in that moment eclipsed the heat and light generated from the final death of Starkiller. 

He lifted the cape and undid the closures, inserting first one arm, then the other, carefully shifting the cape up over his shoulders, settling it on and around his person. The weight was both more and less than his old gaberwool coat. Pushing down the warmth of pleasure that rose in his chest, the natural want of it to shape into some small form of gratitude towards Ren's recognition of him- a pathetic attempt at manipulation, Hux was sure- he donned his gloves again and, forgetting his now cool tea, strode towards the door.

Alpha shift hadn't yet begun, so the empty corridors echoed the sure steps of Hux's boots as he moved at a brisk clip to the turbolift bank nearest his quarters. Inside the lift, he hesitated over turning his comlink on, decided to leave it off while he was in medical and tucked the comm back into the inner pocket of the cape apparently designed specifically to house a comlink.

 _Thoughtful bastard_ , Hux thought bitterly and without a hint of fondness He needed to regain his upper hand, that was all, to decide on his next move, his counter to Ren's opening shot. 

As the lift halted and the door hissed open, Hux stepped out into the well-lit intake station of the medical bay. All of the terminals were miraculously devoid of others seeking urgent care, a calm in the wake of the storm that passed through from, first, the triage and emergency care of supremacy survivors, then, those needing emergency medical intervention post-Crait. Withdrawing his new code cylinder from its holder, he inserted it into the terminal, waiting for the monitor to read and accept the input, flash a generic welcome, then guide him through a basic, non-emergent nursing triage. 

A generic male form was presented to him on the screen and he tapped each area where pain or less than optimal functioning lingered. For each area he pressed, the screen guided him through describing the sort of injury, the type of pain, a myriad of questions that bore repeating for each area until Hux regretted the venture all together.

Finally, the terminal gave a chime and unlatched his code cylinder, allowing Hux to pull it out and settle the cylinder back into its holder on his uniform. A moment later, the hydraulic door between the lobby and the med bay proper opened and the senior medical officer gave Hux a crisp salute.

"Grand Marshal Hux," She addressed, standing at attention until Hux dismissed her salute with one of his own. The woman was older, uniform pressed and spotless, hair pulled back in a severe bun. Her file personnel file indicated her service with the Imperial Nursing Corps before Hux was born and her bearing, her no-nonsense demeanor served as good references to her previous position. "This way, please," She stepped back from the door, allowing him to pass. 

She led him to a private room used solely for ranking officers, unlocked it with her code cylinder and ushered him in before her as the door swept open. "Undress and put on the gown, everything off except your socks. When you are finished, stand where indicated- "at this she gestured to two large boot print shaped pieces of black durasteel set into the silver durasteel floor. "- and press the green button and the X-R unit will begin your scan." She stepped out of the doorway, gave a perfunctory tap and the door closed, leaving Hux alone.

There was a lone chair in the room, bolted to the floor and, since this room was meant to accommodate officers, a built-in bootjack, not dissimilar to the durasteel valet unit Hux had in his room. He shed his cape and laid it carefully on the back of the chair. His belt came off next and Hux coiled it on the seat of the chair. His tunic joined the cape, then his tank on top of the belt, dog tags on top of that. Off went the gloves, the boots, the jodhpurs, and finally his briefs. 

The gown went on with the opening towards the back, then overlapped, cocooning him in the sensor laden fabric. When he was finished, he centered his feet in the boot print shaped metal pieces, feet comfortably shoulder width apart, and pressed the green button.

A metal panel slid down to reveal an alcove from which the long arm of an X-R unit began to extend. A screen slid down from the ceiling and SCAN IN PROGRESS flashed in green on it. A little green light flicked on at the end of the X-R unit and it began a slow revolution around Hux's person. 

The whole of the scan felt like it took a lot longer than it actually did.  
The X-R unit's green light shifted to yellow and the words on the screen stated- PLEASE STAY STILL, COMPILING DATA. After another wait, the yellow light shifted to red and the X-R unit retracted back into the alcove, panel sliding closed. The screen remained extended and the words shifted to red lettering that stated, SCAN COMPLETE, PLEASE WAIT FOR FIRST SENIOR MEDICAL OFFICER.

Hux stepped back to the exam table and sat down on the edge, a sour growl of his stomach reminding him he'd foregone both tea and toast that morning in distraction at Kylo's surprise. His frown deepened as the door began to open. 

"Grand Marshal," The medical officer from before stepped in, attention on the datapad in her hand. "You have several muscle tears, ligament strains, hairline fractures, and nerve damage." Her thin mouth pinched into a line. "Nothing requires surgery, treatment will be a few injections, a course of muscle soaks, and no activity that will aggravate or worsen your current state." 

"Understood, First Medical Officer," Hux inclined his head sharply. He wondered how Ren would take a medical excuse, _Supreme Leader- No physical abuse of the Grand Marshal for 5-7 days._ He doubted Ren would be anything other than incensed. 

"Your chart has a record of stim requisitions attached to it," She added. Hux startled slightly, forcing himself to tamp down on the reaction. "Stim use is discouraged for the remainder of your treatment and, as per order of the Supreme Leader, future requisitions will be denied until you have been medically cleared for their use." 

He could feel the muscles in his jaw work as he forced his mouth to form words and not a sneer, "Understood." 

She gave another perfunctory nod, "A medication administration droid will be with you shortly." 

Hux tried very hard not to grind his teeth, not wishing to add cracked molars to the list of Ren induced injuries. That _kriffing sithspawn_. That bastard son of the Republic. He had gone through Hux's personal medical requisitions- and for what? To deny him a necessary medical aide under the guise of care for his health? 

Hux's upper lip twitched until he couldn't keep it from curling, from baring his teeth. Ren was certainly trying to bring Hux down to his base level and oh, but he was succeeding. 

The door opened again, and the medication administration droid rolled in. "Please try to relax," the tinny, pre-programmed recording stated. "Injections are more comfortable when muscles are not tense." 

A standard hour later, pricked, prodded, and once more dressed, Hux finally stepped into his office and picked up the data pad from its cradle. Sitting back in his chair, he crossed one ankle over the opposite knee and leaned back to scroll through his messages. Progress updates, final causality reports- he stopped on a high priority personal message from the med bay that Phasma was recovered alive, though the physical damage to her person was extensive and full bacta submersion was required. He signed off on it and requested regular updates on her progress.

Requisition requests, some he approved, others he denied- too frivolous, waste of supplies or men, insipid justifications given for the requests- and one Order-wide communique flagged as high priority from the Supreme Leader himself. 

Hux straightened in his chair, both feet going flat on the floor. He set the datapad on the top of his desk and scrolled through the message. With each word, his mouth pinched in, eyes narrowing. A perfunctory address, acknowledgement of Supreme Leader Snoke's passing and Ren's own ascension to the throne. Acknowledgement over the stress and chaos of the last few days…Hux's eyes drank in the words, brow creasing as he read…the announcement of his very own promotion to Grand Marshal, then a- a short list of others the Supreme Leader saw fit to promote as well as a list of meritorious honors to be awarded for acts of bravery above and beyond the call of duty during the Supremacy and Crait incidents as well as a listing of posthumous honors given to the deceased.

A fine tremor ran through him, trembling across his shoulders, down his arms, to his fingertips. Leather squeaked as he squeezed his fingers into fists to stop the shaking of his hands. He was breathing hard through his nose, mouth sealed closed around a clenched jaw. The worst part, the _worst part_ was every promotion, every meritorious award and accolade were well deserved and exactly as Hux intended to propose _today_ had Ren not-

Oh, but Hux had underestimated his opponent. He sat back in his chair again, elbows on the arm rests, fingers steepled in front of his face. This would ingratiate Ren to the men all the more, he, unlike Snoke, acknowledged merit rather than dangling well deserved accolades, earned twice over, just out of reach in expectation that those deserving underlings would keep reaching, keep striving.

It was the promise of a different sort of leadership. A balm to the wounds Ren had visited upon more than just Hux. But the balm was a smear of bacta across a broken bone, not yet enough to be wholly effective. Ren had a history on the Finalizer that was not so easily erased, Hux would see to that. But it was a gesture on Ren's part. Hux would have to maneuver himself into the position of managing Ren's image and reputation among the men, a point of truthful guidance in regard to what the Supreme Leader was actually thinking and doing. 

And that sparked another idea, that had the corners of Hux's mouth twisting up into something nearing a smile.

He took the bridge to the former Captain and now Major Peavey's voice stating, "Rise for the Grand Marshal." Hux paused to take in the show of respect, then dismissed the salutes of his inferior officers with one of his own. 

"At ease," He said, and operations resumed as normal. 

Lieutenant Mitaka approached with a smart salute, "Sir, I wanted both to congratulate you and, ah, inquire as to when assignments on the new Dreadnought would open? I would, that is to say, it would be my honor to continue serving under you." 

Hux thought someone on the bridge snorted, and his eyes narrowed. He glanced around, then back to Mitaka, "Assignments will open when they open. The ship hasn't even a name yet." Hux's heartrate picked up as he maintained his outward expression of neutrality verging on disdain, inwardly he was panicked, where was this information coming from and how did he not know it. 

_Ren._ It had to be. The thought nearly had him grinding his back molars again.

Major Peavey, looking out over the field of stars, very discreetly rolled his eyes. He was old Imperial, showing respect for chain of command and stowing his own disgust at _Grand Marshal_ Hux, yet he could not resist asking, "The promotions were very sudden, were they not?" 

Hux's eyes narrowed slightly, "Sudden in their announcement, only. Drafts were meant to go out today." Which was the truth, Hux had intended his drafts to go out for approval from the rest of high command today. 

Peavey's eyes narrowed only slightly, the muscles crinkling around the corners of his eyes, deep lines forming between his eyebrows, "Then you have met with the Supreme Leader?" Peavey's tone was careful, he was gathering information. Everyone knew of the animosity between the former co-commanders and now that Ren was fully in charge, that left a question of Hux's current standing in the mind of Peavey and others who would prefer to see Hux humbled.

"We've been in direct contact," Hux replied, again, not a lie. Ren's flimi note was direct contact. "And a face to face later this evening. Is there something you would request me to convey to him for you, Major?" 

Peavey's shoulders straightened even further, though he remained at formal parade rest, "No, sir. It is only the change in command, Grand Marshal, one likes to keep abreast of where one stands." 

Hux knew Peavey had served with his father, Brendol Hux, knew that Peavey did not care for Armitage holding a higher rank than himself. Knew Peavey did not think Hux had truly _earned_ his rank. "I will let you know where you stand, Major. And if that standing changes." 

One corner of Peavey's mouth twitched and he inclined his head sharply at the dismissal. Hux clasped his hands behind his back and felt the reigns of control once more caught firmly in his hands. 

"Sir," Unamo said, approaching with a datapad held in one hand.

"Master Chief Petty Officer," Hux acknowledged her promotion and saw the faint flicker of pleasure in her eyes for even that slight upward shift in power.

"The ETA's for resupply and rendezvous coordinates you requested, Sir," She gestured to the scrolling text on her datapad. 

Hux inclined his head, "Very good, transfer them to me. The Supreme Leader and I will finalize them in our meeting tonight." Reinforcing him as the gatekeeper to the Supreme Leader, as having Ren's ear. 

Unamo gave a sharp nod and transferred the data to Hux's datapad as she returned to her post.

And when Ren eventually disagreed with Hux's suggestions and Ren's attempts at leadership failed, Hux would remain as the voice of guidance and reason, one that the crew would recognize Ren ought to have listened to. One that could and would guide the Order to glory. 

The thought was a pleasant buzz in his blood, a calming blanket of control smothering the embers of ill ease that the whole situation had stoked within him. He had not risen this far to fall, especially not to an overgrown manchild that the universe saw fit to grant such powers to. Ah, but if Hux had been born with such powers- well, he would be close enough when he controlled them as he controlled Ren. 

Hux's thoughts played out across his face in the form of a vicious smile that set the crew slightly on edge for the remainder of that smile's duration. 

At 2059, Hux was outside the Supreme Leader's audience chamber. When his chrono shifted to 2100 and alarmed with a single beep to remind him of the meeting, Hux raised his hand to key in his biometrics and the door slid open. He stepped inside the cool darkness of the cavernous room and the door slid shut behind him. It took a moment for his eyes to adjust to the dim light of the room.

"You waited outside the door," Ren's voice cut through the darkness. "For three minutes. Before entering." A makeshift throne, the salvaged pieces of Snoke's own makeshift seat of power, sat in the dim ring of light at the end of the platform, where Snoke's projection had always appeared. Ren was not seated on it. And that _annoyed_ Hux.  
His mouth twitched before he answered, "I did not want to presume upon your time, Supreme-"

Kylo snorted and stepped out of the darkness at the edges of the room, strode towards the throne and lounged on it, knees spread, the hilt of his saber in his hand. He tapped it idly against the stone arm of the wreckage. "Try again."

Hux bristled, fingers clenching around his own wrists behind his back as he shifted to parade rest, "Being early presumes you had nothing better to do than wait for our appointment."

"You think that's true," Ren tipped his head, resting his cheek against the knuckles of his free hand, fingers curled into a fist, elbow resting on the arm of the salvaged throne. 

"That being early is rude or that you had nothing better to do than wait for our appointment?" Hux asked, falsely guileless. It was an effort not to sneer.

"Yes," Kylo replied, those dark eyes nearly black in the lack of light and focused solely on Hux. He refused to wither under that gaze, to cower or bow. 

Hux pressed his lips together until his mouth was a tight line, then asked, "What is it I can do for you, Supreme Leader?" He did a passable job keeping the disdain from his words and thought he imagined a flicker of amusement crossing Rens face.

"I wanted to watch your face during my first public address," Kylo replied, and Hux did not imagine the amusement, then. Kylo wanted to do more than watch, he wanted to skim over the emotions and thoughts Hux thought he kept so well contained. "Then we can talk." 

Those words, the intent behind them sent a shiver down Hux's spine, one he ruthlessly clenched muscles, in all their lingering soreness, down against. "Your first public address," Hux knew his voice was flat. This was quickly coming out of his control again, those reigns slackening in his hand before the beast yanked them free.

Kylo's face twisted into a smile, all teeth and the curling of his upper lip, "Pre-recorded." He raised a hand, fingers spread. It took everything in Hux not to flinch. Kylo's gaze flickered over Hux at that, then back to what he was doine. He pulled down a view screen that flickered on, casting the room in a pale, ethereal glow. Hux turned to watch, riveted, but adrift.

On the screen, Kylo's hair was neatly styled, he wore a new tunic of a heavy material, threaded through with gold, over a new shirt of a fine material. His gloves were likewise new, still stiff, in need of breaking in, Hux could tell by the way Kylo's hands were folded. He looked at the camera with those dark, soulful eyes, knew that everyone watching would feel pinned to the place by the intensity of that gaze. 

_"-the death of Supreme Leader Snoke and my ascension, as his heir, to the position of Supreme Leader. The goals of the First Order are not mine by birth, nor by indoctrination, but by choice in understanding the order we sacrifice to achieve for the galaxy, and knowing intimately the corruption, excess, and disorder of the Republic which we seek to dissolve. I was not born to the exiled Imperials, but in the heart of the Republic itself, yet through my bloodline, I am the unbroken heir to my position, from Empire to First Order. My grandfather was Darth Vader, my mother Leia Organa, and I was born Ben Solo-"_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Again, unbeta'd. I'll come back with my shield or on it.


	3. Whosoever desires constant success must change his conduct with the times.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hux forces Kylo's hand and finds out the deck was stacked in Kylo's favor.

Hux turned on Ren so fast he felt a spike of pain through his newly healed side, a sharp, bright flare from the tip of his pelvis across his back to his shoulder. "What _are_ you playing at, Ren?" His voice was low, dangerous, disrespectful, mouth curled, and nose wrinkled in distaste. He felt like a downed TIE spinning wildly out of control through space, untethered and unable to right itself.

What was Hux's last and winning Sabaac hand, a pure Idiot's Array, rare and unbeatable, Ren had thrown down first, controlling the outcome, spinning it in his favor. The sound on the holo cut out and the screen paused with Ren's mouth parting on a word, intense eyes staring at Hux both on screen and in person.

"Supreme Leader Ren," Kylo shifted on the throne, straightening, but only slightly. That strange, intense stare never wavered from Hux, taking in each shift of muscle in his face, the curl of his upper lip, the wrinkle of his nose, the deepening lines between his eyebrows when Hux sneered or frowned. His surface thoughts were an electric storm across the surface of a polarized planet, magnetic, chaotic. Destructive.

" _Supreme Leader Ren_ ," Hux hissed through his teeth. His shoulders tensed, fingers curled in his gloves, the bite of his blunt nails against his palm was dull, but still felt through two layers of synthleather. "What are you playing at?"

Kylo did straighten, then, no longer idly tapping the hit of his saber on the arm of the throne, but leaving it there as his hands fell to rest, palms up, on his thighs. The pose looked almost meditative and the calm of it only raised more of Hux's ire. How _dare_ he?

"How dare I what?" Kylo asked, plucking that loud and clear surface thought from Hux's mind. "Play politics?" He rose then, all predatory grace and coiled energy, lifted a hand-

-and Hux did flinch back then. A full-bodied jerk that lost him a half step of ground, an instinct of an animal hindbrain that Hux thought he'd killed off through practice and determination to hide weakness. He couldn't help it and hated himself the moment after for how Ren had undone him, ripped through every careful piece of control Hux had built up since childhood until not even his body obeyed him anymore. 

The flinch hung in the air between them for a long second while Hux refused to meet Kylo's gaze and Kylo watched sweat form at Hux's temples, watched his pale mouth part on silently gasping exhales from the accelerated rise and fall of his chest.

Finally, Kylo moved his hand, raising it slowly to run through his own hair in a gesture that long ago was told looked nervous by someone who claimed the title of seasoned politician first and mother second. "This isn't exactly how I imagined this talk going." 

Hux inhaled sharply, "Well. Now ought to be the time when I tell you I've a note from medical excusing me from random acts of your violence on my person." He didn't know why he'd said it, obviously Hux had lost control of all his faculties. He expected some sort of reprimand.

He got a soft snort of laughter from Kylo instead. Kylo looked down and Hux was able to look at him again without being observed in turn, without having to meet the endless black depth of his gaze. "But you know that. You've had your fingers in my private medical file."

Kylo raised one should in a shrug, looking up from under his lashes, gaze unapologetic, "No file is private from the Supreme Leader. And your use of stims is excessive outside of prolonged conflicts. If you kept a regular schedule, they would be unnecessary." 

Hux started, mouth open, agape, really. When he noticed, his jaw snapped shut. "You want my work to slip. You've promoted me in order to demote me, to have a reason to do so. An excuse. Why kill me when you can station me on some backwater moon to oversee radar technicians for the rest of my career." 

Kylo's eyes narrowed, the muscles at the corners tightening, one side of his plush upper lip jerked up, giving Hux a flash of white teeth. "The further away from me, the better able to start a coup." The way he looked at Hux was the expression of a predator sizing up his prey before pouncing with claws and fangs unsheathed. "You wanted to kill. In the throne room." 

He could outright deny it, could wrap Ren in verbose explanations and half-truths. But Hux wasn't feeling much like prey anymore. His teeth and claws were smaller, subtler, but just as sharp- "Yes." It was more growl than word, his own upper lip curled back, teeth exposed, fingers clenched tighter in his gloves until they synthleather rubbed the skin of his knuckles raw. "Yes, I intended to kill you while you were down. My first act as Supreme Leader, the execution of an enemy to the Order." 

Kylo's eyes darkened impossibly further, face openly shifting from dark triumph at Hux's confession to puzzlement. "….enemy- I _am_ the Order." 

"You are a violent, emotional _child_ ," Hux saw no reason to hold back now. Kylo would either kill him or not. It was almost a relief. "You have the power to bend the universe around you to your will and rather than focusing that against our enemies, rather than exerting a modicum of self-control, you destroy _our_ expensive equipment, you abuse _our_ officers and troopers. You want so much to be like your grandfather, but you are nothing like him. Darth Vader respected those competent troopers and officers under him, he did not lash out every time he didn't get his way!" By the end of his words, his face was red, eyes furious, spittle flying as Hux screamed his frustration across the distance between them. 

And Kylo- listened. His face was not impassive, he frowned, he flinched lightly, he kept his gaze downcast and clasped his hands in front of his body. When the last word of Hux's rang out between them, died down to silence, he let that silence hang.

"And I am trying to be _better_ ," Kylo said, voice low and quiet. Hux watched the play of emotion cross Ren's face, a turning down at the corners of his mouth, a creasing of his brow- shame. _Vulnerability_. 

Once more he felt knocked off balance, in a different direction this time. "Yes." He straightened, standing at parade rest again. "Well. It's a better effort than I expected," Hux could own to that. 

Kylo exhaled a huff of amusement, "I was raised by a very successful politician." 

It was a palpable thing, the draining of tension between them, Hux felt it evaporate from his muscles, from his bones, leaving only a vague sense of lethargy. "As the whole of the Order knows by now." 

"I couldn't let you twist it in your favor," Kylo looked up at Hux again, from under those dark lashes. There was something almost hopeful about his expression, it made Kylo look younger, in Hux's opinion, boyish.

"You played it well." One corner of Hux's mouth quirked up, then down into a frown. He took a decisive step forward, then paused as Kylo straightened. "Are you influencing me?" 

Kylo raised a brow, "For the first time, you're thinking clearly. And so am I." Then Kylo took a deliberate step forward, but slowly, keeping his hands loose and at his sides. "You have to see this was deliberate on his part." 

Hux exhaled in a way that was most certainly not a sigh. "Explain." Though Hux did have more than an inkling of some of what Kylo would say. It wasn't as though Hux was _blind_ to Snoke's manipulations, it was only that Hux had to play the long game with such a powerful creature.

"He ran you into the ground with expectation," Kylo unintentionally mirrored Hux's stance, clasping his wrists behind his back in a sloppier version of Hux's parade rest. "Little sleep, dependence on stims, assigning you all the tasks of a rank he refused to award you with." Kylo caught his plush lower lip between his teeth. "Paranoia." He took another slow step forward. "Fear. The stoking of this false competition between the two of us for his favor." 

He took another step forward, putting him in reach of Hux's fingertips if Hux stretched out his arm. "Neither of us held his favor. We were tools. Things he could use. Break." 

"Did he break you?" A part of Hux automatically wanted to deny Ren's words. Snoke favored him, _Snoke favored him_. And yet. 

Kylo's lower lip trembled. His lips parted, though it took a moment to form the words he spoke, "He taught me all the power of emotion and nothing of controlling it." The admission cost him, Hux could see it in the sudden liquid brown of Kylo's eyes. "Don't you see. Hux. He encouraged my outbursts. They alienated me from all but him. If you and I were competition, if we hated each other-"

"-then he could play us against each other all he liked while continuing to reap the benefits." Hux's brow furrowed and he looked beyond Kylo, lost in his own consideration. "But to what end." His gaze focused sharply on Kylo. "Was he truly for the Order?" 

He shook his head once in a gesture aborted halfway through, "I don't know." 

Hux took a step forward, closing the distance between them. They were nearly the same height, though Ren always seemed somehow larger due to his breadth. He didn't seem so large now. "Are you? For the Order?" 

"I believe in it," there was steel behind Kylo's wet words, force and determination.

Hux gave a sharp nod. "Where do we go from here?" 

"I don't trust you," Kylo met Hux's gaze and straightened, expression serious once more. Hux was growing tired of Ren's labile emotional state and hoped he would not be expected to manage it. 

"And I don't _like_ you," Hux snapped, words honest, but also slightly offended. 

"I am the Supreme Leader," Ren's low voice was the rough purr of his lightsaber, a dangerous and clear threat. Hux exhaled and inclined his head in more of a bow than a nod. Kylo continued, "But I am not a military man."

Hux could taste the concession that was not really a concession. He tipped his head, "If you ever use the Force on me again, you had better kill me." His own threat was clear, if Ren humiliated him again, _hurt_ him again, this agreement was off and Hux _would_ kill him.

Kylo closed his eyes as he bowed his head in acknowledgement of concession to the obvious demand between the lines of Hux's words. "It will not happen again." It was not meant as an apology.

"Don't make promises you cannot keep, Supreme Leader." Hux's words were sharp but the tone held hints of resignation to this strange position they had put themselves in together. Hux found himself believing Kylo would try to restrain himself, whether or not he was able…

"In public, you will show respect," He could tolerate this strange and casual banter between the two of them in private. It was more honest and less sour than the fear that ran through everyone else in their interactions with him.

"Disagreement is not disrespect, nor is advising on the pros and cons of a strategy," Hux felt his ire rising again. "You have already said you are not a military man." 

"And I'm not an idiot," Kylo's soft tone cut through the air between them more lethal than a raised voice. "Belaying my orders is blatant disrespect in the face of _my_ navy."

Hux wanted to throw his hand up in frustration, "So is undercutting me in front of officers that must respect my orders when you are not there to override and ignore them!" 

Kylo bared his teeth and closed the distance between them in one step. Before fear could even register with Hux, Ren's hands were on either side of his face, fingertips digging into his temples, and everything went black.

He woke up with a migraine like a spike being driven into his head just behind his left eye. He tried to open his eyes, but the lights were like supernovas burning into his poor retinas. He closed his eyes and tried to sit up instead. It was a mistake as nausea churned in his stomach, watering his mouth. 

Hux barely rolled to the side of the bed before he was retching pathetically. When what little contents of his stomach were emptied, he was left with dry heaves punched straight from his gut. 

It was a testament to his condition that Hux didn't bother to startle at the cold, wet cloth that settled around his neck. After another long minute, he opened his eyes and found Ren crouched on one knee, holding a small waste receptacle and wearing a solemn expression. 

"What. Did. You. Do." Hux bit off each word, planting his palm on the bed and forcing himself up off his stomach into a sitting position. He was so angry that he didn't notice his surroundings at first. Not his quarters. The sheets and blankets were mussed. There were far too many pillows and the layout- Ren's quarters. Wonderful.

Hux realized he was in nothing but his briefs and a tank, tangled in Ren's sheets. That wasn't even the strangest thing. There was something just at the edge of his mind, like fish darting just below the surface of cloudy water on Arkanis.

Kylo's upper lip curled in disgust and he pulled back, standing. "Your breath is awful."

"Well. I did just vomit what little I ate today into your trashcan," Hux said crisply, eyeing the waste receptacle. 

Kylo looked down at it in his hands, mouth twisting in disgust. He bent to set it on the floor, toeing it closer to the side of the bed with the tip of his boot.

"No, no, I'm quite done." Hux did sigh, then, and slumped back against the head of Kylo's bed, feeling boneless and exhausted. "And you have not so neatly avoided answering the karking question, Ren

"I've addressed both of our concerns," Kylo crossed his thick arms over that broad chest. "It was something I would have explained. Offered." Convinced.

"And you did neither of those things because you were angry? Because you were in the wrong?" The foggy blanket of illness dismissed any concerns Hux might normally have had about poking this particular rathtar with a stun baton.

"Because you fail to see any point of view but your own." Kylo frowned. "You're intractable when you're angry and I was tired of arguing."

The sudden rush of endorphins chased away some of the muzzy sickness dulling Hux's mind and emotion, leaving him cold and hyper alert. "What does that mean?" His throat was hoarse from vomiting and apprehension. 

"I bound you to me through the Force."


	4. The Supreme Art of War is to Subdue the Enemy Without Fighting

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kylo could not have known the full consequences of his actions. Hux reaps the benefits.

"I did warn you about making promises you couldn't keep, Ren," Hux's voice was deceptively calm. "Though I suppose congratulations are in order for the five minutes of restraint you showed before cycling back to the impetuous child who throws a tantrum when things don't go exactly as he wants." He spoke without looking at Kylo, gaze unfocused and set at a middling distance.

"I didn't use the Force on you." The anger in Kylo's tone belied the defensiveness with which he crossed his thick arms across his broad chest. "I manipulated the flow of it between us."

"Don't try to play semantics, you're not good at it." Hux said, resigned, then lapsed into silence.

After a long minute, Kylo uncrossed his arms. He was unsure, slightly concerned and willing to attempt again: "You're taking better than I thought you would." The words were more neutral, a question in the statement.

Hux cut his gaze to Kylo, mouth twitching into a moue of displeasure, "I am _incandescently_ angry and currently thinking of the most painful way to murder you."

Kylo's gaze flicked over Hux, then away. He let the conversation lapse into silence rather than dig the pit of mistake any deeper than it already was. And he could feel Hux's anger at the periphery of his sense, a bright and burning light, the heart of a star. The man was only calm, in Kylo's opinion, when things were going his way. But now was not the time to point out Hux's own labile emotions.

"There's nothing to be done about it, is there?" The tone of Hux's rhetorical question was flat, deeply resigned. They both knew the answer. 

"No." A slight untruth. But Hux wouldn't appreciate the truth of the answer anyway. Best to let it lay for now. "It was an honor meant to be offered to you, a great honor for _any_ non-Force-"

"Don't," Hux said sharply, something frightful in the quaver in his voice at the end of the word.

"It's better this way." And the way Kylo said 'better' made it sound interchangeable with 'easier.'

"And it was your intention to _bestow_ this _gift_ on me, regardless of whether I agreed or not." In which 'bestow' was said in the same tone as someone might say 'bludgeon' and 'gift' with the same disdain one might say 'scum on the bottom of my boot.'

"You would have agreed, once I explained," Kylo was trying to keep his tone level, even. His own anger was a lightning storm, powerful, destructive, but once it was over, it was over. Hux had a way of prolonging that storm, a slim and pale lightning rod for Kylo's ire. He knew Hux would not appreciate the restraint he was currently showing.

"We'll never know, now." His tone was quite droll, though each word was a drop of poison and Hux was quite sure he never would have agreed.

Kylo took a slow step towards the bed, movements deliberate, the placation of a feral animal who might lash out at any moment. He folded a leg under him to sit at the edge of the mattress. "The bond will allow us to communicate non-verbally. To question orders and plans of action without undermining each other in front of others."

His hands lay against his thighs, palm up, nearly pleading. "And it will give me … assurance… while we build trust." Kylo did not say aloud that it would make Hux invaluable to him. He would have outlined the benefits to Hux before, but not now. 

Not yet.

This was not yet a partnership, it was currently a method of control over the Grand Marshal. Kylo had not entirely wanted it this way, but Hux had made that decision by being so difficult.

"What about my assurances?" Hux asked, body still, posture sedate. He exploded into motion, lunging to aim a sloppy punch at Kylo's face. He would blame the poor form, later, on the Force hangover.

Kylo blocked easily, surprisingly gently, catching Hux's fist in the palm of his hand. Kylo slid long fingers over the back of Hux's hand, shifting his grip to wrap long fingers around Hux's fine boned wrist. "And that was?" He asked, raising an eyebrow.

"A test of one of my assurances," Hux replied. He shifted back again to lay down in Kylo's bed, not bothering to straighten the sheets out of their tangle. 

Kylo only raised a brow and loosened his grip on Hux's wrist, allowing him to lay back without letting go.

"What shift is this?" Hux asked, draping the forearm of his free arm across his own forehead, covering his eyes.

"Gamma shift," Kylo replied. Then released Hux's wrist and twisted to lean back against the foot of his bed. "Why do you wear that knife up your sleeve?" 

"I learned early never to be caught without a means of defense." Hux's pinched frown deepened and he dragged his arm from off his face, opening his eyes to look down his body at Kylo. "Gamma shift of the same cycle as our meeting?"

One corner of Kylo's mouth twitched up and the tightness around his eyes eased, lightening the color of his iris from impossibly deep brown to something more molten. "No. Our meeting was yesterday's beta shift."

Hux allowed himself a groan because he felt wretched. "They're going to think you killed me."

Kylo tipped his head back, "They already do. You're on a confidential assignment until beta shift next cycle."

"You had best clear that with the Supreme Leader." Hux closed his eyes, the corners of his mouth, for some reason, wanting to twitch up. "He doesn't like decisions being made without his input." 

Kylo huffed softly, Hux could feel a thrum of amusement and for a moment he couldn't tell if it was truly his own. Perhaps he was only tired. "I can handle him." Hux felt the warmth of a large hand splayed out over the top of his foot before he nodded off to sleep again. 

The next time Hux wakes, the lights are dim and he's alone. The headache and nausea long ago abated and even the lingering aches and twinges of pain from Crait, and the day before that battle, were gone entirely. 

Instead of the trashcan, beside the bed is a small, low table upon which rests a cup of tea and a plate of toast. The tea looks and smells of taurine. Hux refuses to be pleased by the gesture, though he does swing his legs over the side of the bed, feet on the floor, and lift the cup to have a sip.

That first bitter taste hits his tongue, nearly unbearable, but as always, the second sip is far milder in comparison. He sets the cup back in its saucer to pick up a triangle of toast. Hux is mildly disturbed to find it slightly buttered, just this side of dry, really, the way he normally prepares it for his own breakfast. 

And since the image of Kylo Ren rummaging around in Hux's tidy kitchen for Hux's preferred breakfast accoutrements isn't enough horror for the morning, the sight of a fresh pair of briefs, socks, and a tank folded neatly and left on the cushion of Ren's chair is a fresh round of mortification unto itself. He thinks of Ren pawing through his personal effects, of the mess those negligent hands have likely made and barely contains a sound of frustration that wants to escape from his chest, crawl up his throat, and burst forth from his mouth in the form of a maddened scream. 

Hux manages to contain it, but only just so. 

He made use of Ren's refresher, mildly surprised to find a full array of hygiene products inside and helped himself. Groomed, dressed, and having, wisely, been given time and space from Kylo Ren's face and presence, Hux was beginning to feel grounded once more. He tugged on his gloves and exited the room, heading for his own quarters to slick back his hair and properly clean his teeth.

Hux took the bridge under Mitaka's relieved, eager gaze and Peavey's customary eyeroll. _Such untenable disrespect,_ Hux thought, forcing his upper lip to remain relaxed and not curl up into a sneer.

 _Execute him._ It was a thought barely formed, an impression, an idea, really. Peavey on his knees before Hux in the hanger bay, a startlingly clear mental image, Hux behind him, slowly removing the glove from his blaster hand. The image lingered on the strip of pale flesh between glove and cape cuff before the glove would slide off entirely. Hux would draw his blaster, press the tip to the back of Peavey's head-

Ridiculous. That would be far too messy up close and- 

"Mitaka," Hux barked. "Status report!"

Another image sprang to mind, less clear than the first, Peavey falling over the side of a walkway, flailing body spiraling down, down into darkness- _Waste of manpower,_ Hux thought, dismissing the idea.

"Sir!" Mitaka saluted, "Salvage on the Supremacy is complete. Final walkthrough scheduled at 0600, scrappers scheduled to retrieve the skeleton at 1000-"

And another image, Peavey in standard issue fitness attire, struggling into a padded suit, running around haphazardly as Hux fired stun shots at him-

Hux found himself grinding his molars. _Are you quite finished?_

Peavey strapped like a starfish across the transperisteel window of a TIE- _That's not even realistic!_

Hux attempted to think very loudly, very clearly, of Ren in a smart First Order uniform, bent over a datapad, working diligently- he felt suddenly and strangely as though Ren was both delighted and laughing at him.

"Sir?" Mitaka asked, almost prompting at Hux.

"Is that all?" Hux asked, prompting in turn and not letting on that he hadn't heard a word of the Lieutenant's report.

Panic stole over Mitaka's features, "I think so, Sir?"

Hux allowed the faintest of frowns, "You think, or you know?"

"I know, Sir!" Mitaka did not, in fact, know.

"Dismissed." Hux said, much to the Lieutenant's relief. 

The rest of his shift passed with no more interruptions until the last hour in. Alone in his office, tension crept over his body, tightened his shoulders, threatened the straight, durasteel line of his posture. His jaw clenched. Synthleather creaked over his knuckles as Hux's fingers curled in towards his palms. Hux sat back in his chair, brow furrowed.

Ren. 

It had to be. Hux dreaded to know what the man was up to, what trouble he was causing that Hux would be responsible for cleanup of in the aftermath. 

But perhaps... just to try... Hux leaned back in his chair, feeling ridiculous, and folded his hands loosely over his abdomen. Eyes closed, he exhaled and found that foreign tension in his body.

He tried to reach out, to touch it, to wrap fingers around the tense line of connection to Ren. He exhaled as his attempts slipped through, slid over, _failed._ Perhaps he was being too literal for this metaphysical nonsense. 

Instead of reaching out, thinking of fingers and hands and touch, Hux wrapped his thoughts around that line, felt the thrum of it in his mind, the gentle pull urging him onward.

Hux followed the pull, felt the tautness of tension shift into the snarled burn of anger. He pressed on through the heat and sharp tangle of thoughts that aren't his own, thoughts that pricked at him like thorny vegetation, attempting to slow him, to ensnare him.

He pictured his mind as sleek and seamless as a cartridge, no corners, no cracks, nothing for those thorns to catch on. It worked. And soon the thorns and heat were lost to...his mind interpreted it as a red mist, thick as any Arkanis fog.

Oh, he knew what this was, his own mind's interpretation of Ren's anger. And Hux was fortunately in a position to do something about it. 

As a boy, small and favored by none, his anger was a useless thing for him, but useful for others to use against him. Necessity made him resourceful and nature kept him from complacency, so he learned to use what he had. That small boy looked out on the ocean, listened to the lapping of waves, bottled his anger and threw it into the sea. 

The Grand Marshal kept an ocean in his head. The sleek cartridge of his thoughts opened, and that ocean poured out. He gave Ren the sight of endless water stretching out to meet the sky where it curved down on the horizon. He gave Ren the rhythmic lapping of the waves. 

The boy had bottles, but the Grand Marshal had monsters, great curving things with teeth and seeking appendages, large and supple from a steady diet of his anger. The Marshal kept those monsters under the placid surface of the water until necessity brought them out. 

He gathered that red mist, drew it in, condensed it down, twisted it into a writhing serpent and cast it into the water. 

Anger wasn't the only monster under those waves. Panic rode under the surface, glittering scales just breaking the crashing foam of the surf.

He didn't give Ren peace, the ocean is not peace, rock and durasteel alike, in time, bow to the flow of water. The ocean was a gift of control.

One that frightened Ren if one read into the newest monster in the sea.

 _Hux._ Ren gasped, breathless even on his thoughts. _What have you done?_


	5. Before All Else Be Armed.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction.

_Consider it a gift_ , Hux thought, smugly. 

He wasn't expecting it to last, of course. The ocean drained from Kylo's mind like a dying river spilling its last precious droplets over rocky falls before drying entirely. But the sea monsters were gone, and the red mist had not yet returned. Hux was sure Kylo could _feel_ Hux's smug just as Hux could feel Kylo's reverberating shock. Abruptly, Hux was thrust back into his own ... body? mind? self, for lack of a better term, barely regaining his bearings when the door to his office hissed opened and Kylo's broad form filled the doorway. His dark eyes were wide, mouth wet, hair in disarray. 

Hux's nose wrinkled in disdain, "Did you run here?" It was unseemly to think of the Supreme Leader loping through the corridors. 

"You shouldn't have been able to do that," Kylo's fingers tightened on the pocket in the door frame where the door had retracted. It gave a little chime, slipped out of the pocket, bumped into Kylo's hand, then retracted back into the pocket. Kylo turned his head and blinked at it, then stepped in the office, allowing the door to shut. 

"And yet I did it." Hux gestured to the chair in front of his desk and Kylo's frown deepened, but he slouched down in the seat, knees spread, hands on the arm rests, fingers splayed. Hux sat back in his chair as the realization dawned on him. "You didn't know what you were doing when you forged this bond, did you?" Hux knew he should be angry rather than impressed at how Kylo managed find new ways to lower Hux's opinion of him. "This was an _experiment_." 

Kylo nearly raised a hand, then thought better of it and aborted the gesture, fingers gripping the edges of the arm rests instead as he leaned forward, towards Hux. "It wasn't an experiment." His bond with the scavenger girl, with Rey, had been the experiment, though not of his own doing. When the idea of such a bond with Hux arose, Kylo poured through the salvaged holocrons and bound flimsi texts hoarded by the Supreme Leader. Kylo hadn't been allowed to study that trove of amassed Jedi and Sith knowledge. Unnecessary to his training, Snoke had said, distracting and confusing.

The emotions played over Kylo's face and Hux watched his expressions change, his own thoughts in it all hidden behind an expression of neutral disdain. Hux remained silent, waiting for Kylo to continue.

"Everything I studied was different than our situation," Kylo admitted at last. 

"Why? What is different?" Hux pressed. He could feel the ripple of Kylo's emotions like someone pressing their hands up under a sheet, opaque but he got the sense of the shape of them.

"I'll tell you," Kylo looked up at him, eyes drowning deep and so very intense. Hux pursed his lips and leaned forward expectantly. "But not right now." 

Hux slapped the surface of his desk with one hand, before pointing at the door. "Then get out, _Supreme Leader._ "

Kylo lunged out of his chair, hands flat on the desktop as he loomed over Hux, "Don't presume to order me!" Hux's face ever changed expression, but Kylo felt his heart beat accelerate, felt the cold rush of adrenaline flooding his veins.

He slumped back in his chair and ran gloved fingers through his hair, deliberately not looking at Hux, who remained still, unmoving, as if to keep from drawing attention, as if to keep himself from becoming more of a target for Kylo's anger.

"I won't be used anymore and I won't be put aside when I'm no longer convenient or fail to fit an expectation." Kylo said softly. "Snoke was in my head for as long as I can remember and _Leia Organa knew it._ My power, Snoke's presence, it wasn't convenient for a politician busy with rebuilding the galaxy."

She had loved him, he knew that, but Leia was a leader and what leaders did best was delegate when they had a task they couldn't handle or was too time consuming for them alone. He had been delegated.

"I was sent to Skywalker, barely a Jedi himself. He had expectations and I failed to meet them. I was too strong, too angry. He tried to kill me. Snoke predicted it, but I didn't believe him. Luke Skywalker, hero of the Republic attempted to murder me in my sleep." Kylo was breathing harder, gaze unfocused. "Snoke used me. _The girl_ used me." When he failed to be Ben Solo for her, she'd turned on him. Kylo has never lied to her, she called him a monster and he owned it. 

Hux's expression remained carefully neutral throughout, he kept his tone just as neutral when he asked, "How does this relate to our situation, Ren? We don't have that sort of emotional connection and, as you enjoy pointing out, you have all the power of the Force behind you where I do not."

"Our bond goes both ways," Kylo replied flatly. 

"I still don't understand," Hux tried not to let frustration bleed into his tone, feeling this situation and Kylo's emotional state were at a precarious point.

"I'm going to pin your wrist with the Force," Kylo said, fingers shifting in a slight movement. "Stop me."

Hux opened his mouth to protest but Kylo was quicker. Invisible fingers wrapped around his wrist, pressed down with delicate force. Hux glared and tried to yank his hand away. "I can't, you know I can't!"

Kylo leaned forward, raised his hand, fingers spread, "You're not even trying."

Hux's upper lip curled, "I don't have the kriffing Force, do you want me to shoot you? Stun you?" He reached for his blaster and found his other hand pinned. "Ren!" 

Hux's anger rose with his panic, he was trapped, not strong enough, struggling was useless but he couldn't help himself in trying. "Stop-"

"Thin as a slip of paper," Kylo whispered hoarsely.

"Don't-" Hux was thrashing, then, face red as he strained against this invisible fingers, feet on the floor, back arching up off chair.

"And just-"

"Ren!" He panted and thrashed, no, no, not again, no.

"- as-"

"No!" He choked on a sob. Humiliation didn't register through his animal panic. His chest burned, fingers scrabbled, he just wanted it to stop, stop-

"- useless."

He was that child again, that small child in darkness and in pain. Anger, fear, panic, hurt, humiliation- it all welled up in his chest, a tsunami of emotion he hurled at the connection with Kylo, where Kylo's Force touched Hux's skin, poison, pain, and _off!_

Hux fell back in his chair, gasping wetly. He was out of breath; his cheeks were damp. But his wrists were free. He jerked his head up to look at Kylo.

Kylo lifted his hand, palm up. The tips of his fingers were faintly pink with small, raised blisters. "Assurances."

" _Get. Out._ "

Kylo jerked his head once in a nod, expression solemn, head tilted forward so his dark hair fell in his face. He rose without a word and Hux didn't move again until the hydraulic door hissed closed.

Hux moves blindly, on instinct, opening the bottom drawer of his desk and pulling out a half full bottle of Corellian brandy and a tumbler. He poured two fingers worth in the glass, thought better of it and poured in two more.

Slumping in the chair, he drank and tried to put himself back together.

Hux was quite inebriated by the time he made it back to his quarters, punching in the code to his door by rote of muscle memory alone, no thought, all practice. The lights rose as he entered and Hux winced, "Lights, twenty percent!" 

The lights dimmed and Hux shed his cape, stumbled out of his tunic. He managed not to kill himself shucking his boots off in the jack, but did trip while exiting his pants.

He lay face first in the bed, breathing hotly against his pillow. Under the dampening force of alcohol, Hux's thoughts were slower, more subdued. Kylo had torn down his defenses, _again_ , but this time had been so much worse. Physical pain, he could tolerate, humiliation, insults, nothing could break him. 

But Kylo, Kylo ripped him down to the studs, took him back to that small, weak child, _powerless_ to defend himself as he was pinned like a specimen and unable to move, unable to do anything.

Hux sat up. But he had done something, hadn't he? Frowning to himself, Hux replayed the conversation in his mind, Kylo had been telling him something in between the lines of his words, then showed him-

Sliding off the bed, he stumbled towards his closet and pulled out a pair of form fitting black pants and a black moisture wicking shirt, the standard issue First Order physical training uniform.

He managed to dress without incident and didn't quite remember walking through the corridor to Ren's quarters, but there he was, entering his override code, only partially surprised it still worked.

Ren was awake and, from the steaming cup of tea on the table, expecting him. Hux entered and crossed the room without speaking. He hesitated only a moment before sliding down into the chair and picking up the tea cup with one unsteady hand.

"Convince me I would have agreed to this. I'm listening."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Still not beta’d! I live dangerously and grammatically incorrect.


	6. He Will Win Who knows When to Fight and when Not to Fight.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Starships are a hotbed of gossip.

Kylo exhaled through parted lips and shifted forward in his chair, leaning in towards Hux over the small table between them. "Snoke damaged us. I don't trust you, with good reason, and you don't trust me. I've… hurt you."

Hux took a sip of his tea, then put the cup down into the cradle of the saucer before crossing an ankle over his knee. "You more than hurt me."

Kylo nodded. He had meant to kill Hux, in that moment. Hux had been right about Skywalker, right about the course of action and Kylo _knew it_. That was why he struck out. "And I could do it again. This is your defense of it." He held out his hand, still not gloved, and showed Hux the blisters still on his fingertips. Kylo hadn't healed them yet, he would later, but knew they were necessary, at the moment, for this purpose.

"A poor defense," Hux scoffed. His shoulders hunched in, defensive at the memory of shame and humiliation welling up from under the blanket of inebriation. 

"Proportional," Kylo said, stare intense, unblinking. "And that result was your untrained effort, pure instinct. I can teach you." 

"But _will_ you teach me," Hux was still too wary of this newfound and tentative alliance between them. And all too familiar with verbal tricks and traps, loopholes to be exploited. 

"Yes," Kylo breathed the word, gaze still riveted to Hux's face. Hux felt like an asteroid caught in the pull of Kylo's gravity, or hypnotized, convinced by the sincerity in those dark eyes. Kylo never did anything by halves, when he committed, he gave himself entirely. 

"And in return, you have the assurance I won't betray you by, what, looking into my mind? Knowing all of my most private thoughts and memories?" Just the thought had Hux slightly disgruntled.

"Yes. And your knowing that if I die, you'll die with me," Kylo didn't have to exaggerate on that.

"And if I die?" Hux asked.

"I'll go entirely mad." The texts and holocrons had anecdotes of this, cautionary tales. 

"Hm," Hux made a sound deep in his throat. "No, if I die, I will pull you into death with me." 

One corner of Kylo's mouth twitched up, "I believe you." And he did. It would be better than the alternative. "I'm tired of being alone, aren't you?" It was the kind of admission made in the quiet of a late hour, a twilight mood as soft as the shadows. What struck Hux was the tone of Kylo's voice, a tentative hope in it that cut straight to Hux's core. 

The alcohol loosened his tongue enough to reply, "Yes." Only one word, but it felt like he'd opened his armor and shown Kylo all the soft places to stick a knife. 

"It could only have been the two of us," He saw that now, even more clearly than when he made the decision about the Force bond in the first place. Snoke had seen it, too, at least a glimmer of it. Perhaps he'd thought that glimmer, fragile as blown glass sphere, had been crushed under the heel of his golden slipper. Snoke had been deadly wrong about many things.

Hux's eyelids began to droop as lethargy struck him. 

"It only ever _will_ be the two of us." He wouldn't tolerate interlopers. Stifling a yawn with the back of his hand, he said, more a demand, really, "You'll tell me more tomorrow, and then you'll begin to teach me." 

"Are you convinced?" Kylo asked, words soft, almost afraid of the answer. 

"Teach me. Let me see this assurance of yours in action. I will render my verdict only then," Hux's eyes were fully closed and he would deny that his words were slurred at the edges, but Kylo would insist they were. 

"You're very demanding of your Supreme Leader," Kylo watched Hux falling asleep in the chair and felt something curl in his chest, something warm, but with teeth and claws. Fondness. Possession. 

Hux didn't answer and Kylo didn't prompt him, knowing anything Kylo said would be met only with soft, snorting snores Hux would deny the existence of later. This was something that could be good, necessary, and surprisingly pleasant. He could not be betrayed, could be abandoned or turned away. If Hux proved loyal, accepting of Kylo and the whole of the circumstances now between them, Kylo would lay the galaxy at his feet. 

Hux's dreams were odd, but their memory slipped away as Hux roused, eyes scrunching closed more tightly before finally opening. There was only the lingering feeling of oddness. Hux passed it off as a side effect of too much alcohol, the same as his dry throat and headache that pounded in time with his pulse.

He knew instantly that he wasn't in his own quarters. The darkness was thicker, no light from a chrono pierced through with lit numbers. Hux very nearly closed his eyes again to sleep off the lingering effects of the previous night's indulgence but knew he had likewise indulged himself in too much leisure as of late and had to focus more on his duties. Consolidate his position outside of Ren. 

"Lights, fifteen percent," Hux croaked. He cleared his throat, tried to swallow, but lacked the necessary saliva to do so. The lights came up slowly and he rolled to his side, propping himself up on one elbow. A thoughtful tumbler of water sat beside a single foiled square cut from a blister pack. He allowed his lack of amusement to press against the bond at that single sublingual painkiller. But he wasn't a child to sulk and his headache was swiftly becoming worse, so Hux sat up in full, swinging his legs over the side of the bed. He drank half the glass of water, then popped the tablet from the blister pocket. Hux knew by sight it wasn't his usual choice but slid the tab under his tongue and felt the rushing fizz as it dissolved, crumbled into nothing. After a moment, the pounding in his head abated and Hux finished off the glass of water.

He was half tempted to poke through Ren's things, but the general ascetic nature of the room coupled with knowing Ren's penchant for keeping cremains disabused him of the notion. Instead, Hux rose to standing and stepped into his soft soled athletic shoes left neatly by the bed. It struck him as odd, just then, the mental image of Ren bending down to slide the shoes from his feet, lifting Hux- did he use the Force or the natural strength of his arms- then tucking Hux under the mussed sheets and blanket of Kylo's own bed.

Which begged the question as to where Kylo had slept and if Kylo had slept. If health measures were to be enforced on Hux, it was only fair Kylo followed the same instructions. It wouldn't do for their Supreme Leader to fall ill under such low circumstances. 

Pleased with himself and his thoughts, Hux intended to head back to his own quarters and prepare for the day. The hydraulic release hissed as the door opened and Hux stepped out, only to nearly step into a cringing Lieutenant Mitaka. 

Mitaka jumped, looked up, and relief washed openly over his features, "Grand Marshal!" He juggled the datapad in his hand before snapping to a crisp salute. 

Hux returned the gesture, dismissing it, "At ease. Lieutenant, what are you doing here?"

It was on Mitaka's tongue to ask Hux the same question, but he definitely thought better of it and instead offered the datapad, "The Supreme Leader, he's needed to sign off on these things." Mitaka did not mention that he was nominated by virtue of everyone else managing to appear busier than him and being caught in the honey trap of Peavey asking him if he could perform a confidential and important task.

Hux accepted the datapad and scrolled through the very mundane requests. His eyes narrowed as his attention picked out a few very odd requests in the middle and towards the bottom. No doubt placed in hope that the Supreme Leader, at that point in the drudgery of such a task, would simply grant everything without looking too deeply into the small and cramped text.

"Did you read any of this, Lieutenant?" Hux didn't bother to look up from the datapad.

"No sir!" Mitaka replied. Though that might have been a very small lie.

"In the future, Lieutenant, if you are handed correspondence for the Supreme Leader, glance over it. Unless the request is emergent or highest priority, always bring it to me," Hux tucked the datapad under his arm and Mitaka tried to push down the quell of fear.

"Sir- I-" Mitaka was unsure of the order. Yes, the Grand Marshal outranked every other officer aboard the ship, but Hux was presuming on communique designated for the Supreme Leader and-

"Do as he says." Kylo emerged from the dim light of the room, just at Hux's shoulder. He plucked the datapad from under Hux's arm without a hint of protest and scrolled through, uninterested. 

Mitaka blanched at Ren's sudden appearance but straightened in determination. It was a direct order from the Supreme Leader himself to do as Hux had instructed. "Yes, Sir!" Kylo just barely bit back a snort and slid the datapad back under Hux's arm. 

"Dismissed," Hux said and watched Mitaka's eyes travel to the datapad, then back to Hux and Kylo before offering another salute and double timing it back to the bridge. 

"He's a sycophant but he's loyal to you," Kylo said casually, watching Mitaka retreat with no little amusement. "That made him the sacrificial lamb." 

"Yes. Either you would be annoyed at the imposition on your time and abuse him again, or you would accept the request and undermine the necessity of myself in the command chain," Hux knew the originator of this small and ineffectual plot and really, it disappointed him at the lack of creativity and subterfuge from an old imperial. 

"Your heroes will always disappoint you," Kylo said, not bothering anymore to pretend he didn't keep fingers in Hux's thoughts. 

Hux made an undignified sound that some might call a scoff, "He is hardly my hero." He turned to face Kylo, then, both of them still framed in the doorway. "Where did you come from?"

Kylo inclined his head towards a panel in the wall that was now open but otherwise blended seamlessly into said wall. "Meditation chamber." 

"Ah," Was all Hux had to say about that. "I'll be starting shift soon. You should put in an appearance on the bridge, show off that new found political acumen." 

A flicker of amusement passed through Kylo's eyes, "Wait for me in your office. We can make our appearance together.' Hux could see the offer in that, a chance to show a unified front, Hux with the favor of the Supreme Leader and the Supreme Leader as an entity coexisting with the structure of the military rather than Ren's history of doing quite the opposite.

"0900, Supreme Leader," Hux imagined that Ren had very little in the way of the concept of time.

"Is that an order, Grand Marshal?" Kylo asked without a hint of anger and more than a little amusement. 

"A suggestion, only, of course." His own amusement was dry, but present. Hux inclined his head, more of a bowing of it, really, then turned on his heel and headed to his quarters. Halfway down the hall, he finally heard the hydraulic of Ren's door hiss closed. 

At 0900 precisely, Kylo Ren entered Hux's office. "Were you waiting outside the door for three minutes to enter precisely on time," Hux asked, arching a brow.

One corner of Kylo's mouth quirked up and he huffed a laugh, "Coincidence only." Then gestured to the door, "Shall we?" 

Hux rose from his chair and gathered Peavey's datapad, intending on giving it back to the man in a way that humiliated and both reinforced Hux's superior standing and his position as gatekeeper between the First Order and Supreme pleader. "Yes." 

They moved through the hall in long, but matched, strides. Brisk, though with neither one trying to outpace the other. Kylo was wearing his outfit from that first public address and had his hair pulled back just taut enough over his ears to pin them slightly down, though not enough to contain his hair to military standards. 

On the bridge, Mitaka saw their approach and scrambled to stand, calling out, "Rise for the Supreme Leader!" The other personnel abandoned their work to stand at attention, saluting. 

Kylo paused at the gesture, stopping to stand in parade rest with Hux beside him doing the same. His gaze swept over the officers as he reached out to gauge the feel of the room. Anticipation mixed with fear… and a slight resentment. That emotion was easily pinpointed, coming as it was, on the tail end of a customary eyeroll. Kylo inclined his head and said quietly, "As you were." 

Released from their salute, the officers slid gratefully back to terminals and work stations and Mitaka buried his face in his own terminal, trying to listen without actually look like he was listening. 

Hux crossed the bridge to Peavey, at his customary position by a transperisteel view port, and offered the man his datapad back, "The vast majority of your requests were denied. Explanations are listed in the body of each individual denial." Hux had been churlish and petty, denying some requests for things so minor as improper address or a stray word. 

"Sir," Peavey said and kept his face placid, accepting the datapad back with one hand. "These requests were not directed to you."

"Are you questioning your chain of command or only the authority of your commanding officer?" Kylo asked, turning the full intensity of his attention on Peavey. 

"No, sir!" And he wasn't, it wasn't in his breeding or his blood. There was also the faintest thrill of fear along his nerves. While Peavey had never worked with Darth Vader, he had been privy to seeing the Sith Lord on more than one occasion. Though Kylo lacked his decorum and grace, the power had obviously not thinned with the bloodline. 

"Then continue to observe it," Hux said smartly. He dropped his voice, "And do see someone in medical about your eyes. You wouldn't want the condition to become debilitating."

Hux stepped back and Peavey gave a smart salute before deciding he had things that needed his direct and immediate attention. 

Kylo took up Peavey's position at the viewport, looking out at the light of the stars, the galaxy before him. Hux fell in beside him, automatically stepping into parade rest, one hand clasped over the wrist of the other behind his back, feet apart. 

Unamo leaned over and nudged Mitaka with her shoulder, pointed at his terminal. He looked down and saw the typed message- _This is strange._

Mitaka looked up at her, panicked, shaking his head ever so slightly. Unamo pursed her lips and turned back to her terminal and a moment later another message popped up on Mitaka's screen, _You know it is. And you've been off all morning since playing chore boy to his Imperial Majesty._

Mitaka worried his lower lip between his teeth, then caved, typing back, _Grand Marshal Hux was in the Supreme Leader's quarters when I delivered P's requisitions requests._

Unamo's head whipped around to look at Mitaka who shook his head fervently at her, then looked back down at the screen, adding, _You can't tell anyone! I was the only person there. It wasn't untoward, they were wearing gym clothes._

Unamo's eyes narrowed, _So they're friendly all of a-_ her eyes widened and she flipped to the secure channel she sometimes used to communicate with Mitaka on- _Maybe they were friendly all along._

Mitaka's internal panic ratcheted up to see the secure comm message pop up, this was highly, highly untoward. But he replied, _Ren threw him into a wall. And did you see the bruises on his neck? Strangled him, too._

Unamo huffed under her breath, _And he got a promotion right after, didn't he?_

Mitaka couldn't fault her logic. He hesitated, then typed, _You think all this time they were only pretending to hate each other?_

Unamo, who had a very bad holodrama habit, replied back, _It's convenient, isn't it? Snoke is assassinated, Kylo's the new Supreme Leader, Hux gets the title he always wanted and now they're getting along._

Mitaka's eyes widened so far they showed white all around, _You shouldn't say things like that, or even think them! He can read minds!_

Unamo blanched and closed the secure comm. 

Not only could Kylo read minds, but Hux had a habit of going through communiques such as this, not that anyone else would have known. 

Mitaka startled as a shadow fell over his terminal, freezing up when a hand clasped his shoulder lightly. He turned slowly, like a victim in a horror holo, looking from the synthleather glove resting lightly on his shoulder, up the arm covered in a fine sleeve, over the broad shoulder and heavy tunic, into the dark eyes of the Supreme Leader.

His heartrate sped, this was it. This was the end of his life. It was the end of a short but promising career, taken from him too soon. He hoped his mother would receive his pension and his rank and honors would not be stripped from him.

Kylo looked over at Unamo, who was very busy doing something other than paying attention to the eminent demise of Lieutenant Mitaka, then back at Mitaka himself. Kylo arched a brow, one corner of his mouth quirking up as he patted Mitaka's shoulder, once, twice, then withdrew his gloved hand and turned, exiting the bridge. 

After a long, long minute of doing nothing but breathing and appreciating life, Mitaka opened a secure comm channel and sent Unamo a message, _I think you're right._

Unamo sent back, _Let us never speak of this again._

The whole of the Finalizer would, by Gamma shift, be speaking of it.


	7. The First Method for Estimating the Intelligence of a Ruler is to Look at the Men he has Around Him.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kylo and Hux name their new mobile command ship.

Hux strode through the open doorway of the training room, expression a study in astonished indignation, "Did you know," Hux paced a short tract in front of Kylo, who looked up at him from his seated position on the training mats. "There is _gossip_ spreading through our crew that we plotted Snoke's assassination together and are-" Hux turned on his heel in front of Kylo, shoulders pulling back, hands falling into parade rest at the small of his back, "- _fraternizing_?!" 

Kylo rolled his eyes up to look at Hux, barely withholding a snort at how _regulation_ Hux managed to make the act of _fucking_ sound. "You're a few rumors behind, Grand Marshal." Hux quirked a brow at Hux and Kylo leaned forward, expression mockingly earnest, "We're star crossed lovers, forced apart by Snoke, made to feign indifference and hatred towards one another until the day we overcame him."

Hux pulled up short in his pacing, turning on his heel to face Kylo fully, bewilderment drowned out the warring factions of puzzlement and disdain as the primary taste of Hux's mind through their bond, "What Republic holodrama kark! We obviously loathed each other." 

Kylo leaned in slightly, looked up at Hux and said, voice sage, "Half the ship knew we were-" He dropped his voice dramatically, "-faking it."

Hux's mouth pinched down into a frown, "Don't encourage them, Ren." He finally sat down on the mats with Kylo, crossing his legs and keeping his posture prim.

"I don't need to. They've seen the longing looks between us, the lustful passion we turned towards convincing Snoke of our hate animosity," Kylo's dark eyes gleamed and Hux thought the Supreme Leader was taking far too much enjoyment of the situation, at Hux's expense, no less.

" _Longing glances_ ," Hux scoffed. He looked Kylo over, broad shoulders and well-defined arms bare in the black tank he wore. "Could they discern those from the particular way you tilted your helmet when looking at me? Or perhaps the way my glance lingered on your dirty, flapping cowl, hm?"

"Oh Hux, _Armitage_ ," Kylo's voice went deeper, softer on Hux's first name. He leaned up on his knees, half uncrossing his legs to crowd into Hux's space. "Is this the part where I ravish you?"

" _Ravish_ -" Hux planted a hand on Kylo's chest and shoved him back to sitting. "You sound like an ill-bred Republic beast speaking that nonsense." Kylo allowed himself to be pushed back, catching the hint of Hux's amusement through their bond and in the way one corner of Hux's mouth turned up ever so slightly at the edge.

Kylo smiled, then, showing teeth, "Aren't I an ill-bred Republic beast, Hux?"

It was startlingly close enough to Hux's thoughts during his last self-pleasure session that he blinked and had to make an effort to keep his expression neutral. No, if Kylo knew about that he would have said something before. Wouldn't he?

Killing that line of thought, Hux returned his full attention to Kylo and frowned, "You are of a fine Imperial bloodline, thus a First Order beast."

Kylo's feral smile only deepened, "And don't beasts ravish?"

"I'm sure medical has an appropriate aide for that, Supreme Leader, shall I comm to procure you one?" He raised an eyebrow.

"And disrupt our lesson?" Kylo most generously allowed Hux to feel the victor in this round of friendly banter. He could feel Hux well with triumph through the bond, preen a bit under Kylo's verbal gesture of concession.

"Are we finally starting?" Hux asked, a challenge in his tone and a single eyebrow raised.

Kylo ignored the question, "Put your hands out, palms down, over mine." He extended his hands halfway, palms up, into the small space between them. He could feel the heat of Hux's body as Hux complied without a word of derision, a thin strip of air the only thing separating their bare hands from touching. 

His vision spun down to the fine bones of Hux's wrists, the prominent styloid processes of Hux's ulnae where they articulated with the small, irregular bones of his wrist. Kylo exhaled and closed his eyes, Hux watched him for a moment before closing his own eyes.

"Concentrate on the space between our palms," Kylo murmured. With Hux's eyes closed, that low voice seemed to fill the space around him. "Meet me there in the bond." 

To his credit, Hux did not scoff. He was trying to take the mystical nonsense seriously, it might save his life, after all. So, Hux exhaled long and slow, picturing the stirring of molecules between their hands, heated by the warmth of both their bodies. Molecules were a universe all their own, little planets of protons and neutrons circled by the orbiting moons of electrons. The whole of the universe mirrored itself.

Hux was drawn to that space, as though he were both himself and small pieces of universe between their palms. Everything around him both sharpened and dulled, he could feel every fiber of his pants as the athletic fabric hugged his skin, the pressure of the training mats where they touched his legs. Hux could feel the current of the circulated air as it brushed over the soft hair of his exposed arms, the shape of the training room they were in, and beyond, the decks and corridors of the Finalizer, all of the lives there, some burning bright, some more dull- it was all so alive, thoughts, feelings, emotions-

_This is the Force_ , Kylo whispered into his mind. 

Hux startled, he could feel the breathing of his physical body increase, the swirl of blood through his veins, the bond of oxygen to hemoglobin- but he wasn't attached to it. He was a part of the universe and the universe itself. 

_Kylo_ , Hux's reply was shaky. _I feel like a god-_ And he understood, oh, now how he understood, why Kylo felt entitled to the throne, felt above and apart from the rest of the crawling, insignificance of other sentient beings. 

_Because he was_.

Hux never stood a chance against this, against someone who felt the pulse of the universe in their veins, who carried the galaxy in his chest cavity, expanding and contracting like the birth and death of stars. 

_No,_ Kylo said. _Look._ He met Hux in that space between them and Hux could see the damage; blank swathes of empty black space, like pieces of the galaxy where stars had died, each one a scar, a betrayal, an aching need unmet. Hux's mind burned like a solar flare, lighting those dark spaces. 

_Is this the bond?_ Hux asked. It was so very much to take in, far out of his own experience, but not out of place. 

_Yes,_ Kylo said.

Hux opened his eyes and surged forward against Kylo, drove him backwards onto the mat, and sprawled over him. He buried his face against Kylo's neck and felt the dampness on his own cheeks, realized he was crying. 

"Hux." Kylo said in his low timbre. 

Hux felt the vibration of Kylo's voice in his own chest and stifled a sob in his throat. His fingers curled around the straps of Kylo's tank top, tried to press as close physically as they had been in that non-physical place where they met through the bond.

Panic fluttered in Hux's chest as Kylo shifted under him, thought Kylo would shove him off or pull away. Kylo didn't pull away, he arched and rolled them over, pinned Hux under him as though shielding him bodily. 

Kylo pressed his forearms against the mat at either side of Hux's head, bowed his own head to whisper hoarsely, "I am so sorry." 

The very next Alpha shift found Hux in his office, behind his desk, Kylo lounging in a chair on the other side, boots up on the corner of said desk. Hux had initially glared at the offending soles of Kylo's boots but allowed the very rude gesture because Kylo would only delight in riling him if Hux commented on it.

He was scowling again, for a different reason, "Absolutely not. The next mobile capital of the First Order will not be named any variation of Vader." 

Kylo exhaled very, very slowly. "It's a reminder of my right to the throne." 

"You don't need to bludgeon the galaxy with it, they know. Ren, they know." Hux's voice softened, "You've surpassed him, Kylo. Step out from under his shadow and rule in your own right." 

"What would you name it?" He straightened slightly at Hux's words. Kylo didn't quite believe them. He felt inadequate in the face of his grandfather's legacy. 

Hux reached out and in one swift gesture knocked Kylo's boots off the desk. Kylo's feet hit the floor with a thud and he huffed. "Stop that," Hux said. He meant both the sulk and the huff, of course. "The Ascension, perhaps."

"That sounds like we're still on the rise, not taking our rightful place at the helm of the galaxy," Kylo's eyes lit with a smug sort of pride. 

Hux understood then where the urge to roll one's eyes came from. He quashed the urge, more disciplined than those who could not control such base urges. "What do you wish to convey with the name of your mobile capital, Supreme Leader?" He was learning that sometimes a change of tactics was needed to guide Ren to a proper conclusion. 

Kylo actually considered that, elbows on the arm rests of the chair, fingers steepled in front of his face. "Leadership. Guidance. The First Order as an end to the petty factions of Core and Rim politics, uniting the galaxy."

Hux inclined his head, "That's very good." He considered, "We want to stay away from anything reminiscent of Snoke. Though I was fond of the message a ship named Supremacy gave, our regime needs a different message. We need to speak to the current generations, not appeal to Imperial ties of the past. We are looking to the future, to a new and equal way of reshaping the galaxy." 

Unlike the New Republic, an echo of it's just as corrupt predecessor. Or perhaps more corrupt given the harshness with which the New Republic dealt with those worlds holding Imperial ties or sympathizers. 

"The Polaris," Kylo suggested, straightening in his chair.

"That might hint at favoritism towards the Polaris sector," Hux considered. "The Lodestar?" 

Kylo leaned back in his chair, "That one… feels right." The name hung in the air between them, vibrated in harmony with the Force and the bond. 

"Are we considering a stationary command in the future?" They were so easily eliminated, after all. Or not easily, but it made elimination very efficient. "Once the galaxy is properly under our control?" 

"Not something as centralized as the Senate was. A capital in the Core, a capital in the Inner Rim, and one in the Outer." Kylo lay his forearms on the arm of the chair and crossed his ankle over his knee. "A mobile command to go between." 

"You've thought about this," Hux was moderately impressed. 

"No, I read your mind and stole all your ideas," Kylo replied.

Hux's brow creased, "I hadn't thought of any of that." 

Kylo smirked, one corner of his mouth pulling up, "Oh, you hadn't?" 

Hux gave in then and did roll his eyes. "Stars, you're an ass." 

"And you're developing bad habits." There was something very pleasing to Kylo about loosening up Hux in his presence. Only in his presence. This was something Kylo wanted to hoard, to keep only for himself. 

"Are you a bad habit, Ren?" Hux asked, feeling dangerous, on the precipice of something he only half understood. He wouldn't deny that since Crait things had been changing between himself and Kylo quickly, unpredictably. Pleasantly.

Kylo tipped his head, watching Hux with a strange light in the depths of his dark eyes, expression solemn. "I'd rather be good for you."

Something shivered in Hux's chest as he inhaled. "You are good for me." 

Kylo leaned in, a predatory shift to his shoulders, a hunting light in his dark eyes. "I could be better."

A smile that Kylo had never seen before, faint, almost embarrassed at its own presence, curved Hux's mouth, "Convince me."


	8. When I Let Go of What I am, I become What I Might be.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Balance is struck and while victory is not decisive, it is something that can be lived with.

“Convincing you would involve fraternization during duty hours.” The light scolding of his tone belied the delighted heat in his eyes. 

Hux pursed his mouth, tongue licking out to purposefully wet his lower lip, “I don’t think my superior officer will mind.” 

“We don’t have to tell him anything,” Kylo’s gaze flickered down to watch the purposeful seduction of Hux’s tongue as it painted an invitation across Hux’s lower lip. His gaze flicked back up to Hux’s eyes as Hux sheathed that unholy weapon once more behind lips and teeth.

“Are you encouraging insubordination?” Hux felt lighter in the midst of this playful banter between them, fascinated by the ease of their mutual flirtation. And it was easy, Ren was charming when he made the effort, it seemed, and Hux found himself the sole subject of that effort. It was… flattering. 

“Insubordination, deviance, flagrant disregard of duty,” Kylo dropped his voice and leaned in, eyelids low pupils that spiraled out to nearly drown his dark irises. “ _Fraternization._ ” It thrilled him that Hux responded to these overtures, that Hux did not scoff or withdraw or draw propriety and coldness around him like armor. Hux was warm like this, his delight sang through the bond, encouraging Kylo’s efforts.

“Scandal. And you were just attempting to talk me out of fraternization,” Hux replied with playfulness at the edges of his mock serious words. 

“Not very hard,” Kylo pursed his mouth, those plush lips pushing out into a pout that Hux found both endearing and stimulating at the same time. Strange things that out to conflict seemed to find harmony between them. Hux was learning to accept it and not question why and how things worked where they were concerned. They just worked, and he was glad for it. 

“Then how will we ever fraternize?” Hux asked, the mock solemnity breaking under the duress of his amusement. 

“You could make it har-“ A perfunctory buzz to the office door interrupted whatever ideas Kylo was about to salaciously present. It also interrupted his mood, turning it on a dime from playful and flirtatious to something darker and mildly violent.

“Calm,” Hux said and pointed a finger at Kylo, the threat of a wave at the edges of their bond, ready and waiting to douse any anger that rose to burn down what modicum of good sense and restraint Kylo had developed.

Kylo threw his hand up and looked to the durasteel ceiling of Hux’s office as though beseeching the galaxy as a whole for something- likely the violent end of whomever was on the other side of the door in a way that Kylo could absolutely not be blamed for.

“Enter,” Hux said through the door comm and buzzed the lock open. The hydraulic door swung open and Mitaka stood outside wringing his hands. He looked from Hux to the dark look the Supreme Leader was pinning him with, then back to Hux, visibly blanching.

“Sir-“ He remembered himself and saluted. “Sirs. The Supreme Leader’s moth-“ A narrowing of said Supreme Leader’s eyes had Mitaka hastily correcting himself. “That is, General Organa has been sighted and confirmed as present on Naboo.” 

Kylo straightened and looked to Hux.

Hux frowned, “Naboo,” he repeated, voice flat. “What is the confirmation percentage and what were the means?” 

Mitaka managed to pull himself back together after the horrific startle that an unexpected fact to face with Kylo Ren had given him. “Ninety-nine point nine percent confirmation based on facial recognition software, visual confirmation from First Order scouts stationed there, and General Organa’s own admission in seeking an audience with the Queen.” 

“A desperate appeal for aide?” Hux straightened and reached for his datapad. “I want the full report, no detail too insignificant. Give me the summary now.” 

Mitaka saluted again, “Yes sir, as soon as I’ve returned to my terminal. The General sought and was granted an audience with the Queen of Naboo. It was not a decision made lightly, according to our spies, but the General used a blood appeal and it was granted. That’s all we know until the audience is over.” 

“It’s happening now?” Kylo rose and rounded on Mitaka in one fluid motion. 

To his credit, Mitaka only shrank back a little, “As we speak.” 

Kylo exhaled, eyes wide and head bowed, gaze focused at a middle distance. After a second, he turned back to Hux, “We need to detain her immediately, the Finalizer can be there before she has a chance to slip through our fingers again.” 

Hux frowned and rose in turn, moved out from behind the desk and closed the distance between himself and Kylo. _That might be her intention, to draw us there with a contingent that might be misconstrued as an invasion force. It might throw enough sympathy towards the sad dregs of the Rebellion to prop them up a bit longer._

Kylo’s brow furrowed, _It doesn’t matter. No one will shelter an enemy of the First Order, Naboo has brought themselves into the war and violated their own attempts at neutrality by even allowing her planetside._

 _If culture dictates that a blood appeal must be granted, then you have the same standing as she does to request an audience_ , Hux raised his arms into the space between their bodies, palms up. _We can undo whatever damage she has attempted against us through diplomatic means and in doing so, punch large holes in the Rebellion’s attempts at propaganda that we will violate culture and custom in the words we bring into our fold._

Kylo hesitated. He closed his eyes and reached out to press his palms to Hux’s palms, to thread their fingers together. He let Hux feel the chaos inside of him, the things that Kylo wanted versus the fact that he knew Hux was right. 

_This might also be an attempt to draw us away in the midst of our recovery and redistribution, to force our actions in hopes we make a mistake,_ Hux hesitated before he asked, _Kylo, do you really want to apprehend her?_

Fear shot through the bond, then anger in defense. Hux tightened his fingers around Kylo’s fingers and chased both anger and fear with the strength of rising tides, _Please._

Kylo dropped his chin nearly to his chest, head hanging, _No_ , he said at last, _I don’t think I want to capture her and be forced to make the decisions that come after._

Hux inclined his head, _Then let her go. Let her live. We won’t pursue, we will do as I have said and request our own audience. Until that is granted, until she has fled the planet or sought asylum there, then we shall remain here and follow through on finishing what needs to be done for the Order and its recovery_.

Kylo opened his eyes, looking at Hux from under his thick, dark lashes, _And if she seeks asylum on Naboo? And it is granted?_

 _Then we let her live out her days in exile in the land of your grandmother, but we both know she would not so gracefully retire_ , Hux replied. _The focus of our efforts should be on this current generation of the Rebellion and silencing them once and for all_.

 _She might. Her health is still poor, I can feel that,_ Kylo said. 

_Our get well gift to her, then_ , Hux said wryly and withdrew one hand from the clutch of Kylo’s fingers to press his gloved palm against Kylo’s jaw, cradling it. He drew his thumb over Kylo’s lower lip and for a moment, wanted to past lips, past teeth, to press the gloved pad of his thumb down against Kylo’s tongue until it was pinned to the floor of his mouth and all he could taste was synthleather. 

_I want to touch you,_ Kylo said, all thoughts of his mother and the rebellion forgotten. _Now._

One corner of Hux’s mouth pulled up and he tilted his head ever so slightly, _Not now. Tonight. 2100 in my quarters. We can relax, then._

Kylo inclined his head and pressed his mouth to the gloved pad of Hux’s thumb in a chase kiss, then extricated his other hand from Hux’s other hand and pulled away. Kylo turned and Mitaka scrambled to the side to let the Supreme Leader pass. As he brushed past the smaller man, Kylo caught Mitaka’s gaze as he passed and said, “Well done.” Then stepped out into the hall and away.

Mitaka, for his part, did not faint. He did, however, wonder what had just happened. It looked like the Supreme Leader and Grand Marshal had stared into each other’s eyes, held hands, then came to some kind of conclusion. 

Or read each other’s minds! He needed to get back to the bridge and tell Unamo, “Sir, I should get back to the bridge and finish compiling that report.” 

“Yes, yes, dismissed,” Hux said, distractedly dismissing the Lieutenant. Mitaka saluted and turned on his heel, double timing it back to his terminal and his secure comm channel. 

Hux moved back to his desk and sat down, picking up his datapad and beginning to compose orders for immediate dissemination, as well as a very diplomatically worded request to the Nabooian queen.

The battle was fierce, the Resistance having rallied another meager few ships that dropped out of hyperspace, led by the Millennium Falcon, as soon as the Finalizer and two other dreadnoughts jumped to hyperspace, presumably headed to apprehend Leia Organa on Naboo.

Unfortunately for the Resistance, the Finalizer and those other two dreadnoughts were not headed to Naboo, they dropped back out of hyperspace behind the attacking Resistance …. _fleet_ , caging in those few ships and commencing bombardment on both front and rear shields in an unrelenting attack to drain power and buckle said shields. 

It worked. One ship fell, further damaging those nearby with debris. Another ship, another, until the only standing Resistance vessel was the Millenium Falcon. It was once more tagged with a hyperspace tracking signal and when Peavey asked, “Pursue, Sir?” 

Kylo Ren, on the viewport of the bridge, standing at parade rest beside Grand Marshal Hux answered, “No. Let them retreat and lick their wounds. We can find them any time we want, now.”

Hux wasn’t looking at Kylo directly, but the faintest hint of the corners of his mouth turning up, the warmth that flooded the bond, the _pride_ he felt for Kylo’s restraint, it reinforced how good of a decision it had been to put forth this effort for Hux, the Order, and himself. 

“Yes, Supreme Leader,” Peavey said and gave the order that all ships were to stand down and allow the fleeing vessel to escape. To say he had been surprised at both the order and at the Supreme Leader’s downright rational demeanor was a gross understatement. That’s not to say he was displeased, rather the opposite. _Perhaps_ , Peavey thought, _he does have quite a bit of Vader in him._

When the heat of battle had faded and there was nothing more to be done that day in immediate concern for Leia Organa or the Resistance, Kylo found himself outside the door to Hux’s quarters. It opened and Hux’s voice drifted out from the bedroom as Kylo stepped into the main room, “You’re late.”

“I was going to come early and stand outside the door for three min-“ Kylo’s breath caught as Hux exited the bedroom, the thin durasteel door retracting into its pocket to reveal pale skin, coltish legs, and a black robe that Kylo wanted to press his face against and see if it felt as soft as it looked. 

He hesitated, want choked the bond and also his intentions, made his steps jerky and unsure. Hux closed the distance for them, fisting his fingers into the edges of Kylo’s cloak and pressing their mouths together in a brush of lips so hard he could feel Kylo’s teeth behind the plush cushion of his mouth. He bite Kylo’s lower lip, catching it hard between his teeth before clamping down. 

The literal bite of pain spurred Kylo from his hesitance and one arm came up around Hux’s waist, crushing him against Kylo, the other fell to the tie of Hux’s robe, tugging ineffectually at the knot and wondering how angry Hux would be if Kylo just tore through the shimmersilk like wet paper and cast the remains of the garment to the floor.

“Very angry,” Hux murmured against Kylo’s mouth, licking his tongue out to taste the faint tang of blood from where his sharp canines had pierced skin. “Also very aroused.”

“I’ll buy you a new robe,” Kylo promised between hard, desperate kisses. His fingers closed around the belt and he yanked, forcing Hux forward in a sharp arch of movement against Kylo’s body. “I’ll buy you a hundred of them.” The rip of the fabric tore through the quiet of the room and Hux made a low noise before capturing Kylo’s mouth again, fingers searching for the clasps of his tunic, wanting to feel the hard muscle and soft skin beneath his fingers instead of cloth and heat. 

“You’ll ruin all of them,” Hux said, fondly, opting to simply take a page from Kylo and rip the tunic open.

Kylo growled against his mouth, “And you’ll let me.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Poor Mitaka, can't even his unintentional revenge for fear of being throttled. Just a heads up, next chapter will be mostly sex, that's why this one was a little shorter.


	9. Benefits should be conferred gradually, and in that way, they will taste better.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Anticipation heightens the fulfillment of desire.

There was something both thrilling and delightful about the clumsily intimate introduction to each other’s bodies. Hux tipped his head to deepen the kiss and his nose bumped Kylo’s nose, they could feel each other’s smiles against their own mouths, the curious relief and strengthening swell of devotion in the bond that they knew, they _knew_ that the one found the mistake of the other pleasing, endearing, rather than mentally deriding for inexperience or lack of finesse in seduction. 

Hux parted the front of Kylo’s torn tunic with the tips of his fingers, short fingernails catching on the rough fabric. He slipped his hands under cloth and the broken clasps until those eager, searching digits found warm, hard flesh. Kylo’s skin was hot silk over the hardness of muscle, marked by the rough texture of healed burns and the raised slickness of other scars from injuries Kylo had allowed to heal without the aid of bacta. 

He traced the lines of Kylo’s pectorals, thumbs brushing over pebbled nipples. Hux played the pads of his fingertips there, idly rolling each nipple under a thumb, then flexed his thumbs to draw a hiss of breath from Kylo with the edges of Hux’s thumbnails scraping over the sensitive flesh. 

Kylo dropped his head, mouth pressed to the pale joint of Hux’s neck and shoulder. He mouthed wetly, lips and tongue, as his own fingertips slid over Hux’s soft skin to slip the silk of Hux’s robe off his shoulders. The material gathered at Hux’s bent elbows, halting the robe’s descent from Hux’s body, but only just barely.

The sound Kylo made was pure animalistic need, a growl in the back of his throat as he pressed Hux backward. Hux gasped as the upper half of his exposed back made contact with the chilled metal of the wall. He shuddered and wrenched his fingers away from Kylo’s skin, grasping either side of Kylo’s tunic and trying to forcibly drag it from his body. 

Kylo relented, letting go of Hux long enough for Hux to peel him out of the rough fabric, but sated himself from that small, momentary loss of contact by sinking his teeth into the meat of Hux’s shoulder. Hux yelped and shoved at Kylo, though it was about as effectual as shoving at a duracrete wall. Kylo laughed huskily against Hux’s skin and laved his tongue over the bite, as though in apology.

“You absolute brute,” Hux’s voice shook, caught halfway between lust and a laugh. His hands landed on Kylo’s waist, pressing in as he stroked upwards, feeling the expansion and contraction of Kylo’s ribcage with breath, all the muscles between his ribs working. “Feral, Republic-bred beast-“ His tone was warmer, more fond than he’d wanted it to be.

“Is that what gets you off, Hux? The thought of my taking what I want from you?” His voice was rough, breath hot against Hux’s jaw. Kylo nuzzled his mouth against Hux’s earlobe and spoke directly into his ear, “Of indulging myself in your body and you being unable to stop me?”

Hux hissed and dropped his hand to cup Kylo’x sizeable erection through those ridiculous pants of his. Kylo groaned and arched into that pressure before Hux gripped him hard and growled, “You poor, misunderstood creature.” Kylo whined and fucked up into Hux’s hand, into the hard grasp of fingers against his shaft. “I want to tame you to my hand, to reward you for finding your place before me- on your knees- for showing me your gratitude for the firm hand I’ve taken with you.” 

Kylo snarled, surged forward and pinned Hux bodily against the wall. He rolled his hips hard and rough against Hux’s hand, “Hux, Hux, I’ll give you that. I’ll give you my submission, my gratitude,” He licked a stripe up Hux’s neck, bit at his jaw, then his lips. “Then, I’m going to put all of this-“ he rolled his hips hard against Hux’s hand, letting Hux feel the hot, thick length. “- in you. You have to pay the price to tame the beast to your hand.” 

Hux swallowed hard, his own hips stuttering, his own cock pinned by the sharp edge of Kylo’s hip, one thick thigh of Kylo’s between his own thinner thighs. “Earn your prize, beast. On your knees, Kylo. Show me your gratitude.” 

Kylo pulled back, expression shattered, chest rising and falling quick- heaving really, as he looked over Hux’s face with such open awe and adoration, as though he could not believe that this was his. Very slowly, he sank to his knees, taking in all of Hux’s exposed skin on his way down- from Hux’s small pink nipples, to the softness of his lower abdomen, the military precision with which he trimmed his deep red pubic hair, and the flushed red head of his cock. Kylo’s upper lip pulled back from his teeth. He _wanted_.

Hux had reluctantly released his tight grip on Kylo’s cock, allowing him to bend his knees to Hux, and oh, how powerful he felt in that moment. Precome welled at the head of his cock for how erotic that thrill of power was, the most powerful Force user in the galaxy before him, looking on Hux like Hux wove dust into galaxies and stars. 

He exhaled through parted lips and raised a pale, slender foot, pressed the top of said foot snug against Kylo’s cock, stroked him through his pants, “Sheathe your teeth and take me in your mouth.” 

Kylo did not do exactly as directed, rather he prostrated himself on the floor, catching Hux’s foot in his hands, pressed a kiss to the top. He nipped at the protrusion of Hux’s ankle, the medial malleolus of Hux’s fibula, nuzzled Hux’s calf, pressed his forehead to Hux’s knee in a gesture near worshipful. Hux’s fingers settled in Kylo’s hair, his gaze rapt on the ripple of muscles beneath the scarred expanse of Kylo’s broad back. He shuddered under the hot mouth that settled on his inner thigh, right near where it joined his hip. 

Kylo attacked it with teeth and mouth, with suction, nipping and sucking until a dark bruise began to form. His gaze flicked up and he met Hux with liquid brown eyes, gold fire dancing in their unguarded depths. Hux’s fingers tightened in Kylo’s hair, pleasure and pain warring under the press of teeth and suction that broke down blood vessels under his skin, purpling the slick wet skin that Kylo left behind. He rose to his knees and opened his mouth, gaze never parting from Hux’s gaze, wanting to see every emotion play out in those sea-glass green eyes at the first touch of Kylo’s mouth to Hux’s cock. 

What Kylo lacked in experience, he made up for in enthusiasm and single-minded dedication. Not that Hux would know the difference, neither of them was truly more experienced than the other and this connection between them, the settling balance of power was on another plane of existence from any sticky fumblings that came before.

Hux’s face was a slow-motion study in _wreckage_ , Kylo drank in the way Hux’s brow furrowed, lips parted, then skinned back over his teeth, as Kylo took Hux’s cock into his mouth, cupped his tongue around the head, the shaft. Hux shuddered, his head tipping back, though his gaze remained trained on Kylo’s face, on how his cock disappeared between those thick, plush lips.

Kylo’s face, on the other hand, relaxed entirely, eyelids dropping, forehead smoothing out. Hux wondered if this was what Kylo looked like in meditation, concentrating at his task. Hux’s fingers eased in their grip, stroked and petted instead of pulled and demanded. Kylo couldn’t take Hux’s full length, not yet, and his thick, rough fingers curled around what his mouth could not engulf. The contrast in sensation, rough versus soft, wet versus dry, had Hux’s toes curling and he knew he wouldn’t last long. 

He also couldn’t stay still much longer and began to sway up to meet Kylo’s mouth, not rough, just small, shuddering arches of his hips. That inability to hold still drove Kylo’s own want higher with how much his actions were stripping Hux of his restraint. Kylo’s free hand came up to cup Hux’s hip, thumb sliding over the jut of his hip bone and settling into the indent below it. His fingertips splayed over the curve of Hux’s ass, dug into what little meat there was padding out over the bones. 

Hux’s eyelids rolled up as Kylo changed the pace, moving faster over Hux’s cock, mouth and hand working him harder, head bobbing as the wet, fleshy sound of sex filled the room. Hux’s breath was audible, his exhales groans and whines and, “Kylo- yes – you’re so good-“ 

Kylo responded to the praise with sincere heat, surging up against Hux again, pinning him carefully against the durasteel wall by that hand on his hip, by the suction of his mouth and the sheer bulk of his body. Hux didn’t feel trapped, he felt worshipped, half mauled. And he _liked_ it. 

“Close-“ Hux panted, his hips twitching in a futile attempt to arch against the unyielding grip of Kylo’s hand. 

Kylo only grunted around Hux’s cock, tip of his tongue teasing over the head, lapping at the wet slit and swallowing down the salt and musk of Hux’s precome as though urging Hux for more. The weight of Hux against his tongue felt good and right, heavy and with the faintest hint of his regulation soap on the taste of his skin. He wanted to wreck Hux fully, with this, then with how full he would fill Hux with Kylo’s own cock. His lips and chin were wet with saliva, fingers sticky where they wrapped around Hux’s shaft, but slicker now with the lubrication of precome and saliva that dribbled down from the attention of Kylo’s mouth. 

“Please- Kylo- please-“ His voice was higher, nasal and demanding and it drove something primal in Kylo. He growled around Hux’s cock, scraped his teeth lightly over the sensitive skin of Hux’s shaft and Hux couldn’t hold back, didn’t want to. He cried out with a garbled yell as he came, fingers spasmed tight in Kylo’s hair. 

The hot rush of Hux’s spend met something hot in Kylo’s chest at Hux giving himself over to Kylo in orgasm. Kylo swallowed him down, sucking and lapping to the point of discomfort. Hux pushed at Kylo’s shoulders with the lapping of Kylo’s tongue began to feel like sandpaper on oversensitive skin. “Disgusting _feral_ thing-”

Kylo surged up and caught Hux’s mouth in a hot kiss, letting Hux taste the lingering musk of his own spend on Kylo’s mouth. Hux squirmed against him, made a noise that Kylo would call a squeal. But Kylo didn’t relent, not yet, all that bony writhing did was grind down on Kylo’s aching erection and he ground that aching erection against Hux. 

After a minute he pulled away and drew the last remains of the silk robe from Hux’s frame, letting it flutter to the ground, leaving Hux gloriously nude. Through narrowed eyes and blown pupils, Hux reached out and snapped the waistband of Kylo’s pants, “Take those ridiculous things off.” 

Kylo huffed and licked his tongue over his swollen mouth, but complied, hooking thumbs under the waistband of said ridiculous pants and pulling them down over his hips. His cock bobbed out in a manner so ridiculous Hux chuffed a little laugh. Kylo glanced up at him with a crooked half smile, then hooked the toes of one foot on the hem of the opposite leg of his pants and pulled them off in a manner so self-indulgent and lazy that Hux knew Kylo learned it in his Republic upbringing. 

Still, Hux couldn’t help but reach out and run his fingertips lightly, so lightly, over the slick largesse of Kylo’s cockhead. He traced the underside of Hux’s shaft, following the line of a vein, with one fingertip. He curled his fingers around the thickness of that shaft and pumped it once, twice. 

Kylo’s hands slipped around Hux’s waist and he leaned in, pressing a kiss to the corner of Hux’s mouth, then pressed his cheek to Hux’s cheek, mouth against Hux’s ear as he asked, “Are you ready to have all of that in you?”

Hux hissed and bit at Kylo’s jaw, “You have absolutely no decorum.” 

Kylo grinned, “You’re right.” And closed his hands tightly around Hux’s waist, picking him up and balancing him on one shoulder. Hux spit and struggled and clawed like a wet lothcat. 

“You absolute- put me down-“ But he wasn’t serious in his fight, in fact, Kylo could sense arousal in the midst of the embarrassed squirming sense of Hux’s emotions.

Kylo slapped a large hand over the span of Hux’s buttocks, “Mm. _No_. Your feral beast is about to claim his prim, Imperial bred prize.” Kylo could _feel_ Hux’s flush at being called a prize and it was echoed in the stilling of Hux’s squirming body.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I decided to split the smut chapter into two parts, so I upped the chapter count to 11. I had my eyeliner tattoos retouched this week so I've alternated between dry eyes or being half blind from all the Aquaphor I'm using to keep the tattoos and my eyeballs from drying out. 
> 
> Second part should be up in the next couple of days.
> 
> I'm also on tumblr [@goblincity](http://goblincity.tumblr.com/) if you want to follow me there.


	10. Pleasure in the Job Puts Perfection in the Work

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> An immoveable object meets an unstoppable Force.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> When we last left our heroes, they had formed a Force bond, reconciled their differences and were on the verge of engaging in sexual relations.

Kylo carried Hux over the threshold of the open door and into the bedroom, stopping at the foot of the bed to toss Hux like a sack of root vegetables onto the bed. Hux landed far too gently on the thin mattress, a combination of Kylo’s gentle toss and subtle use of the Force, though that hardly stopped the curl of his upper lip or the narrowing of his eyes (completely belying the absolute internal delight at Kylo’s manhandling and abilities). 

Kneeling on the end of the mattress, Kylo stalked towards Hux on hands and knees, eyes dark and muscles rippling under all that pale skin. For all that the sight aroused Hux, he arrested the man’s progress with one pale foot flexed against Kylo’s broad chest, “You’re not just going to shove it all in at once, are you?” There was nervous anticipation in those words.

Want with reason overriding it. 

Kylo picked up on that, one corner of his mouth flicking up in a smile that was not pleasant, “Not tonight. Another time. After I’ve stretched you all morning and put something in that tight little hole to keep you open and ready for-“

Hux nudged him with a flexed foot, pink flush suffusing his chest, creeping up his throat, flaming in his cheeks, “Don’t be disgusting-“

Kylo leaned in and nipped at the inner arch of Hux’s foot, cutting off Hux's words with a small, surprised hiss. Kylo continued as though he had not been interrupted in the first place, “-ready for me. Tonight, tonight I’m going to stick my tongue inside of you, then use my fingers, then-“

“Stars- your tongue-“ His face contorted in pleasure warring with distaste. “You really are a beast.” There was a flutter in his chest and in … other areas … something hot and anticipatory that subsumed the actual disgust he felt at the thought of how unclean and- and base it all was.

Kylo laughed low and wrapped his fingers slowly around Hux’s knees, slowly parting those slender, pale legs for Kylo to move between them, “You haven’t exactly told me no. You aren’t exactly telling me no.” He arched a brow and slid his hands under the backs of Hux’s knees, slowly leveraging those long legs up to hook over Kylo’s shoulder.

Hux did squirm at that, shock short circuiting his brain. The degenerate, perverse Force user not only wanted to lick him there, he wanted to look at it. Kylo laughed, breath hot against Hux’s twitching hole, “Why shouldn’t I want to see it? It’s so pink. And mine.” His hands slid down to Hux’s hips, splaying his palms and thumbs across the meat of Hux’s buttocks, spreading him open for better access.

Kylo bent his head and kept his eyes open as he slowly drew his tongue over the musky scent and taste of Hux’s tight hole. Hux dug his heels into Kylo’s shoulders, biting back a sound that was certainly not a squeak, then letting out a sound that was definitely a moan as the tip of Kylo’s tongue began to prod at the tightly contracted muscle. 

_Why was he doing this?_ Hux thought, trying not to squirm and failing. Heat flashed through his body, curling his toes and arching his spine with every hot breath and wet lick of that feral tongue. 

_So you have to watch,_ Kylo replied through their bond, his presence against Hux’s mind- or perhaps his thoughts- a dark and velvety thing, the spaces between the stars, but familiar and comforting. His own private galaxy. Their own private galaxy. 

He teased at that tight muscle with the tip of his tongue until Hux relaxed enough for Kylo to work that wet, hot muscle in and tease at Hux’s rim, stretching him, filling him, just a ghost of what was to come. Hux’s thighs tensed, his heels digging in harder to Kylo’s back. Those short fingernails caught at the sheets and Hux twisted them in his fingers, eyes clenching closed- not against the sight, but at the onslaught of sensation that he never experienced before. His cock twitched in interest though the spirit was more willing than the flesh for now. 

“Kylo-“ Hux bit off, voice going higher. “ _Please-_ “ He didn’t even know what he was asking for. _More?_ Possibly. _Deeper?_ Probably. 

Kylo laughed, a deep, dark sound that reverberated through his chest, vibrated against Hux’s rim and had his eyes shooting open as he gasped and propped himself up on his elbows. He was caught like a dock rodent in the hypnotic gaze of an Arkanis water serpent. Hux couldn’t look away from the blackness of Kylo’s gaze, it looked like his mind felt, the infinite space between the stars, he swallowed hard at what he saw there, tenderness, lust. The onslaught was so much, bordering on too much. Then Kylo broke their locked gazes, looking down, and Hux’s gaze drifted to the sight of Kylo’s tongue disappearing into Hux’s body.

He could feel Kylo looking at him again, could feel the shattered openness of his own expression. Hux’s lips parted and his head tipped all the way back, baring the pale line of his throat to Kylo’s gaze as he gave himself over entirely to the sensation, to Kylo and the slick intrusion of tongue that lit up every nerve in his body as they’d never experienced sensation before.

Kylo watched the slow destruction of any lingering bit of Hux’s prim disgust, watched it crumble to the intimate pleasure of sharing this thing with Kylo and Kylo alone, of gifting it to Kylo as well as to himself. Withdrawing his tongue, Kylo gave a kiss to Hux’s twitching hole, promptly plugging it with a single thick finger to keep him open while he slowly eased Hux’s legs off his shoulders and arranged him back on the flat of the bed.

Hux gave a little sound of loss for the withdrawal of Kylo’s tongue, but practically purred at the thickness, at the rough feel of a calloused finger pressing carefully inside of him. His eyes slowly opened as he was set fully back on the bed, expression drunk on pleasure, open and warm. Something in Kylo’s chest contracted at that sight and he looked away quickly for the lubricant so that Hux, even with his sharp perception muddled with pleasure, would not see the shine of wet in Kylo’s dark eyes. 

He was so happy. Beyond that. He felt whole and centered. Hux felt that, the bond between them open wide. He reached up and ran his fingertips across Kylo’s cheek, saying nothing, but returning his own honest emotions, the care, the want, the sheer relief at finally having this, a partner, a trusted partner in all things. 

Kylo swallowed and closed his eyes, pressing his cheek against the palm of Hux’s hand. He turned his face and lay a chaste kiss there as the lubricant snapped into Kylo’s own palm, open and facing upward on the bed. Hux’s fingertips slid away and Kylo nipped at them, eyes open and clear again. He snapped open the lubricant with his thumb and upended the bottle to drizzle a fair amount on the base of the finger still holding Hux open, then worked that finger in and out of Hux until the lubricant was spread. 

Hux hissed at the cold of the liquid, narrowing eyes at Kylo who just gave a one shoulder shrug, then added a second, slicked up finger to ease Hux’s ire. It worked. The feel of the stretch, of the aching want of more, more overtook Hux’s irritation with Kylo not having had the courtesy to warm the lubricant up- as though either of them would have thought of that- before unceremoniously dumping it on him. 

“You don’t have to be gentle,” Hux groaned, dexterously wrapping a leg around Kylo’s waist. 

Those warm brown eyes looked at him, a fleetingly haunted expression passing through, “But I want to be.” He twisted his fingers, working them open to stretch Hux’s tight muscle. Hux caught that expression, felt the words work under his sternum where they might provide a balm to hurts forgotten in the heat of the current moment. 

“Kylo,” Hux said softly, reaching out as though to stay Kylo’s hand.

“Just one more finger,” Kylo whispered back, catching Hux’s gaze with his own. Hux inclined his head and let his hand fall over his own pale abdomen as he leaned back.

“It’s just that I want you, I want to feel you in me,” Hux breathed and saw Kylo’s whole body shudder as the words hit him like a bolt well placed on a target. 

“And I want to feel you. I just want you to enjoy every inch,” Kylo replied, looking at Hux from under his lashes, one corner of his mouth quirking with mirth. Hux snorted, a smile curving the corners of his mouth upwards, though he made no further protest. 

Kylo added more lubricant before he added his third finger, feeling Hux’s body stretch to accommodate, as though he were carving out yet another place in Hux for himself, as though he were forming Hux’s body to the shape of his own. And perhaps he was. Perhaps they both were. 

Hux felt it, too, hips arching, body twisting. There was some discomfort, yes, as his body adjusted to all three of those thick digits spearing him open, working his body to take something even larger. Hux’s hole practically twitched with anticipation for that thought. 

The reflexive contraction of Hux’s muscle around Kylo’s digits drew a groan from him as he finally, finally, withdrew his fingers. He pulled them out slowly, torturously slow. Hux felt the catch of callouses against his rim, the bulge of knuckles, the blunt tips of Kylo’s fingernails, and then, the gaping openness of nothing. Kylo watched for a moment as Hux’s stretched hole twitched in a failed effort to tighten around something that wasn’t there. 

“Beast,” Hux slurred with arm fondness, his expression as soft as it was dazed. “Come now, Grand Marshal Hux does not like to be kept waiting.” 

Kylo snorted with just as much fondness, “Shall I call you that in bed?” He shifted over Hux, letting the Grand Marshal take some of his warm, solid weight as he urged Hux to keep that leg wrapped around Kylo’s waist for better access.

He hummed audibly, as though genuinely contemplating the thought. “Not tonight,” Hux said with a small half smile, sliding his hands over Kylo’s biceps, up the precise outline of his deltoids, to rest, fingers splayed, over the breadth of Kylo’s shoulders.

“Another time then,” Kylo murmured leaning down to press his mouth lightly against Hux’s own. Hux recoiled slightly, head pressing back against the pillows at the musky taste of where Kylo’s mouth had previously been tasting Hux’s own body. Eventually he huffed and gave into the kiss, then bit Kylo’s lower lip. 

Kylo laughed softly and nuzzled his mouth against Hux’s lips. He took himself in hand, shifting most of his weight to one knee and pressing the thick, blunt head of his cock against Hux’s open heat. Hux’s breath caught in his chest, short nails cutting into Kylo’s flesh in precise, bloody crescents, one set for each shoulder. It was… a lot and sudden gratitude flashed through him at Kylo’s insistence on taking the time to stretch him. Something about Kylo was like a spiced Corellian brandy, he went straight to Hux’s head and divested him of all good sense.

Hux’s chest rose and fell in slow, rhythmic breaths, eyelids squeezed shut against the thick intrusion. The stretch slipped slightly into a burning and Kylo leaned in, nuzzling at Hux’s mouth with his own. Kylo could see the small pains etched into Hux’s expression, around his eyes in the lines crinkling his tightly shut eyelids, in the muscles standing out at the clench of Hux’s jaw. Kylo leaned in to try and distract his lover, pressed his mouth to Hux’s mouth in an effort to stir passion rather than pain.

He was moving slowly, aching slowly and tried not to delight in how _good_ Hux’s tight body felt around the length and girth of Kylo’s cock. Again, the sensation of stretching Hux to fit no one but Kylo himself, molding Hux’s insides to conform and accept the shape of Kylo’s cock. His thighs and buttocks ached with the repressed urge to bury himself in that tight heat, to bottom out with his scrotum nestled tightly against Hux’s body.

Hux’s jaw relaxed and his jaw muscles unclenched, he panted hotly, wetly against Kylo’s mouth, like a slow blooming flower just starting to open and return Kylo’s kisses. Inch by aching inch Hux felt himself relax, the burn lessening into just a stretch, easing away. His eyes slowly opened and he blinked at Kylo’s darker eyes, so close to his own. 

There was a smile at the corner of Kylo’s mouth as finally, finally, he sheathed the last of his length in Hux. 

“Okay?” he asked, lips brushing Hux’s lips.

“Yes,” Hux said quietly, solemnly. “I just need a minute.” 

“I could stay like this forever,” Kylo replied, sliding his hand up and down the back of Hux’s thigh, the curve of his ass, where Hux had his leg hooked around Kylo’s waist. 

Hux snorted softly, “I do not intend to lose the ground we’ve gained to stay in bed like Republic layabouts.” 

“Layabouts is one of the least appealing words in this situation. Your mid-coitus talk needs improving Grand Marshal,” Kylo murmured, amusement threading through his tone. 

Hux tightened imperceptibly at the use of his title in bed. It was still filthy to be addressed like this, incredibly so. And yet. Still arousing.

“I felt that,” Kylo teased and leaned in to catch Hux’s lower lip between his teeth, teasing at it with his tongue.

Hux clenched down around Kylo’s cock, experimentally at first, then, when it didn’t hurt, harder, taking in the fully body shudder he felt run through Kylo where their bodies lay against each other. He watched Kylo’s face contort, too, eyes closing, lips pulling back to bare his teeth.

“Did you feel that?” Hux meant his tone to be mocking, but it came out too deep for that, too sultry. “Come on big boy, move now. But slowly.” Hux flexed his foot and nudged his heel into the meat of Hux’s buttocks, as though spurring on a tauntaun. 

“Yes, Sir,” Kylo said with a soft huff of laughter as he felt Hux clench around him at the formal address. He began to work his hips in short, shallow motions, rocking in and out, teasing really, making sure Hux could take it. 

And Hux could take it, as evidenced by the loud lothcat-esque sound that Hux made as he raked his fingernails across Kyo’s shoulders. The pain didn’t take away from the pleasure, rather, it enhanced the intensity. He moved a little faster and Hux threw back his head against the pillow, mussed red hair like a halo of fire surrounding that pale face, just now flushed pink.

Kylo pressed his forehead against Hux’s forehead, his own eyes shut tight as his breath mingled with Hux’s in the space between their lips. Hux leaned up and bit hard at Hux’s lower lip in lieu of words, arching his hips to try and force - _more, harder, faster-_

He obeyed the commands given to him via their bond without a quip or a laugh, too far gone was he in the sensation of _Hux_ around him and open to him to even be concerned with teasing or sarcasm. Kylo pressed Hux nearly in half to change the angle of penetration fucking in deeper, working his hips harder. The wet sound of skin against skin slowly filled the room, echoed off the plain, durasteel walls. 

At the change in angle, at the apex of a thrust, Hux’s eyes shot open, mouth wide and wet in a strangled sound. Pleasure shot down his nerves, like being electrocuted, but in a twitching and desperate sensation rather than painful, Hux would deny it later but he whimpered Kylo’s name and clenched around him, arching into each of Kylo’s thrusts. 

“ _Please-_ “ He begged. That pleasure echoed through Kylo and he fed it back through their bond, into Hux, adding his own, keeping the circuit of emotional and physical sharing going as they were joined in both body and through the Force. 

“Hux,” Kylo breathed, eyes wide and wet, shattered and open under Hux’s gaze, though it mattered not since the expression in Kylo’s eyes mirrored that of the one in Hux’s eyes, stripped bare. “ _Armitage._ ” 

One of Hux’s hands slid from Kylo’s shoulder, leaving thin streaks of blood across that pale, mole-scattered skin. He cradled Kylo’s jaw in his palm, thumb stroking over Hux’s cheekbone, painting it with a small smear of red. It was profound, all of this, and needed no spoken word. Instead, he pushed not only his pleasure into their bond, but also his emotion, his happiness, his relief, his contentment, his developing feelings for Kylo. He got the same in return with such serious intensity the sensation punched a gasp out of him. 

Light caught on the wetness at Kylo’s eyes, on his cheeks. Hux could feel the warmth of tears against his thumb where it rested on Kylo’s cheekbone. Kylo hadn’t felt himself begin to cry, but he was aware of the awe and the image of it that fed through the bond to him from Hux. 

“I’ll take care of you now,” Hux said, compelled to say it from some deep place inside of him.

Kylo turned his head, pressing a kiss to the pad of Hux’s thumb, “And I’ll take care of you.” 

The words felt like a vow through the Force, echoing between them in a way that tightened those bonds already linking them. But it didn’t feel restrictive or confining, there was only Hux to Kylo and Kylo to Hux, closer than before in a way that was reassuring. 

Hux was a mess under Kylo, cock hard again and leaking down his own abdomen. The flush that had bloomed on the pale skin of Hux’s cheeks and throat had crept down to his chest, spread back to the pink head of his cock. Kylo’s hand slipped between their bodies and wrapped around the pink of Hux’s shaft, stroking from base to the wet head, watched the skin flush from pink to angry red. 

He squirmed under the double assault of pleasure, of having Kylo fucking into him, the head of his cock dragging across Hux’s prostate with every thrust, and that large, hot hand stroking him in time to each thrust of Kylo’s hips. Kylo watched Hux begin to unravel, felt it roll over him through their bond and through the Force. He felt himself getting closer, his pleasure building and building to an edge that he wanted to jump off with Hux. 

They moved together, the sweat of their brows mingling together, breathing each other’s breath, feelings mingling together until neither could tell where one stopped and the other started. Later, Kylo would call it a higher state, but for now, he drove into Hux with single-minded intent and Hux rocked back to meet him thrust for thrust. 

Their chests moved in tandem, breath coming faster, fingers grasping harder, all slick skin and soft gasps. Hux tensed, tightening around Kylo’s cock as Hux spilled hot over Kylo’s hands. The tension, the grip, the wash of Hux’s pleasure flooding the bond drew Kylo over and he added his own release into the bond as well as Hux’s body. 

In the rising tide of mutual pleasure, he could still feel the heat of Kylo’s spill in him and Hux whimpered, legs going limp and sliding down Kylo’s flank. Kylo eased Hux back down against the bed and nuzzled the damp skin of his neck, exhaling a sigh there as he kept his own weight on his elbows in an effort not to crush Hux. 

Hux’s eyes were heavy lidded as he watched Kylo’s dark head bent over his neck. He drew one shaking arm up and draped it over Kylo’s waist, the extent of his energy at the moment as pleasure continued to spark along his nerves. He found it difficult to keep his eyes open and after a minute closed them. 

Kylo breathed in the scent of his lover, of sex, of sweat. He raised his head and watched a bead of moisture form at the wet temple of Hux’s hair, darkening the red strands there. The bead of sweat gathered, gathered, then started a slow descent down the curve of Hux’s cheek. Kylo chased it with his tongue, tasting salt and water and something just at the edges. 

He looked at Hux’s face, open and so young without the perpetual sneer and the frown lines. Leaning in, he pressed his mouth in a chaste kiss to the corner of Hux’s lips. 

“Go to sleep, Ren,” Hux slurred, though one corner of his mouth quirked up at the kiss. 

“Do you want me to-” Kylo asked and started to shift his hips as though to pull his softened cock from Hux’s body.

Hux instinctively clenched up against the motion, “No.” It was the strangest invitation to stay the night that Kylo had ever received. 

But he accepted it. With the gesture of a finger, the lights flicked off and the blankets lifted around them in the darkness. Kylo wrapped himself around Hux, who was a beacon, at the moment, of contentment, warmth, and satiation. He was pleased to have Kylo’s arms slide around him, to be wrapped in blankets and held. And Kylo was pleased that Hux allowed him.

**Author's Note:**

> Space Opera, Force Saga  
> Skywalker's why we ended up here...  
> But Snoke is dead and the Resistance fled  
> And the throne was Kylo's for the taking  
> But Hux might still get what he wants if he is open to synergy.
> 
> Idea for Hux's uniform comes from [Jeusus' Artwork](http://jeusus.tumblr.com/post/171710556048/tiniestbutt-leave-save-yourselves-supreme)


End file.
